Defense Mechanism
by SarahNThatcher
Summary: Haruhi and Kyouya have to work through their pasts and their feelings or Kyouya is going to face life in prison.
1. Objection!

AN: Konichiwa minna! It's been a really long time since I wrote anything new and this came to me one day when I was waiting for my husband to leave the bank. Awesome, I know. This story is like nothing I've ever written, because I've only written for HYD up to now and I've always stayed in a straight line. That's not how my brain usually works. I'm very analytical… but saying all that I really liked this idea.

The characters might seem OOC but they aren't kids anymore. Things in their lives: events, growing up, college, work, etc. I think that these factors would have changed them. Taking that into consideration, I believe that this is the logical personal growth that these characters would face. So basically, I made them OOC because I like them better this way.

Anyway, this story jumps around a time line, but everything is clearly labeled. I wanted you to see that there is something going on in the present, but it's affected by stuff that's happened in the past. I didn't want it to be something that people were thinking about, so it's not integrated on purpose.

_**Last time on Defense Mechanism**_ tabs will be placed on chapters that have "present day" sections only. Not every chapter's back story deals with what's currently going on. Some chapters are only for the past event's purposes. So sometimes you can forget what happened a couple of chapters ago.

I hope you like it, but if you don't let me know that too. If anything doesn't make sense tell me so I can clarify it for you because if you're wondering you can be sure someone else is out there wondering too. Thank you for reading.

There are some Japanese terms sprinkled throughout, but not much and I'm sure if you read fanfics you'll know them by heart.

Also this is labeled T for adult situations, profanity and violence.

_Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran HSHC because if I did that jackass Tamaki wouldn't have gotten the girl in the end. She'd have fallen in love with Kyouya and he would have broken her heart and she would have run to Mori and he would have beat Kyouya's ass and she would have been content living out her life in Mori's arms. Or maybe I'd have done something else because that's starting to sound kinda cheesy now too._

- Chapter 1: Prologue -

Present Day

"Objection!" She called out banging her hands on the table.

"Sustained." The judge turned a wary eye at the lawyer in front of her who looked aghast at the ruling. "Tread lightly, Mr. McCoy I'm listening carefully."

With a quick shake of his head, probably in disbelief that the judge could be so against his line of questioning, he continued. "So, Dr. Warner, were there any evident signs of a struggle or fluids on the victim."

"Objection."

"Overruled." The judge motioned for him to continue.

"There weren't any obvious signs of a struggle, but the body was covered in water as if her murderer had tried to wash her and in her vaginal cavity there were traces of semen."

"Dr. Warner, as a medical examiner, do you examine many murder victims?"

"Yes."

The medical examiner was rather young looking for the position. She couldn't have been more than forty, which was odd to see, because most of the M.E.s she'd ever seen were haggard looking old men.

"So, then it's safe to assume that you have, in your experience, seen cases where two or more laws were broken in the process of a murder."

"Objection, your honor, may we approach?"

The judge motioned for the two counselors to step forward. McCoy looked back at his second chair with a face of disinterest. The female lawyer there just shrugged.

"Your Honor, the people couldn't meet their burden for rape, so now they're dragging my clients name in the mud. Where I come from if you're not charging someone with a crime, you don't bring it up."

"She's right, Mr. McCoy, if you couldn't prove rape we have to proceed with the assumption that the sex was consensual. You want to imply rape find more evidence."

"It goes to motive, your honor."

"No, it goes to the prosecutor trying to get the M.E. to bring up DNA when he knows that it's already been thrown out."

"Ms. Fujioka, I'm aware of that, but Mr. McCoy here knows that if he tries to introduce the DNA evidence back into the trial, that will push my hand and I'll have to call a mistrial. Believe me," She looked at the other attorney, "he doesn't want me to do that because he'll be found in contempt of court and he'll spend the next week in jail."

She motioned for them to go back.

Mr. McCoy walked back to the witness box, smiled at the jury and then at Dr. Warner. "Doctor, what if anything did you find in the victims bloodstream?"

"The victim had a lethal amount of sodium pentothal in her bloodstream."

"What kind of compound is that?"

"It's a barbiturate, the same chemicals used for lethal injection."

"The body was found at 7am. What was the time of death again?"

"We put the time of death at somewhere near 5am."

"Doctor, were there any signs that the body had been moved?"

"No."

"Thank you." He looked over at Haruhi. "Your witness."

She looked over at her defendant and smiled reassuringly before getting up. "Doctor, you said that you found sodium pentothal in the victim's bloodstream, correct?"

"Yes."

"So then you found the needle puncture?" She looked at the jury expectantly.

"No, but there's only one way to administer the drug."

"Yes, but if the victim was killed at 5am and found at 7am, then the needle mark should still be fresh, right?"

"She could have been given the shot anywhere, sometimes needle marks are hard to find."

"Or, time could have healed it right? Doctor, can a dead body heal?"

"No."

"So the needle mark, though possibly "hide-able", wouldn't have healed?"

"No."

"But, could it have shrunk?"

"With enough time, maybe, but in two hours, not likely. I've only seen it happen during intense cold, it tightens up the skin."

"Doctor, how did you come at the time of death?"

"We check the temperature of the liver."

"Is there anyway that that can be tainted?"

"Like I said only in cases of intense cold or intense heat, but the room was warm, approximately 73 degrees."

"And the body couldn't have been moved?"

"Exactly."

"Doctor, how long have you been a medical examiner?"

"Objection." Mr. McCoy called from his seat.

The judge rolled her eyes. "Over ruled." She looked over at the witness. "Please answer."

"Fifteen years."

"And in that time, have you ever been wrong?" Haruhi started again.

"I've done the best of my ability in all the work that I've done. I check and recheck; I don't just shoot from the hip."

"I'm sorry; I never meant to be rude, but to err is human." The short brunette defended. "I'm just trying to get an understanding of your qualifications, because you have been a medical examiner for fifteen years." She walked back to her desk. "And out of that time, you're mostly sent to work special victim's cases haven't you?"

"Yes. When dispatch received the call they thought that the case was better suited for special victims."

"I understand, we all assume at times. Do you deal with many homicides?"

"There are plenty of homicides in special victims."

"I'm sure." Haruhi smiled politely. "But out of the cases you've worked in your fifteen years, do you know how many have been overturned on appeal?" She smiled to herself as she finally found the file she was looking for.

"No, I wouldn't keep track of that."

"No? Well, the states legal department does. More than 83% of the cases you've worked on; not that you were the sole reason of course, were overturned on appeal."

"Objection, is there a question in there?"

"You're right." Haruhi looked at the prosecutor with a mildly glib smirk. She returned the file and produced another one. "My mistake." She turned back to the witness and smiled. "Doctor, you said that the room temperature was 73 degrees, correct?"

"Yes."

"To your knowledge, did anyone adjust the thermostat?"

"No. It was my understanding that the scene had not been altered after the police had been contacted."

"Yes, but what about prior to the call?"

"No one changed the temperature. Someone would have mentioned it."

"Thank you Doctor Warner." She smiled at the judge on her way back to her seat. "I'm done, but I reserve the right to call her again at a later time."

The judge nodded to the witness telling her that she was excused. The tall blonde looked at her watch and called out for recess until the next day.

Haruhi started packing her things with a sigh.

"You seem to be asking a lot of **loaded **questions?" He pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose. "What are you trying to prove?"

"Your innocence." She answered very dryly, like he should already know. "Kyouya-senpai, I'm trying to get you acquitted." She smiled despite the fact that she was glaring at him. "Just having you found innocent won't mean anything. You'll still be blacklisted and your competitors will make you out as a monster to your business partners, but if you're acquitted then it'll be written off as a mistake." She tried to stifle a yawn and stretch the muscles in her neck, she hadn't slept well. "I asked those questions because people tend to see science as indisputable. I had to poke holes in her if I want them to have doubt in her. The jury doesn't know what happened in that room and the prosecution can only give them a plausible version of events. So can I."

Please read and review...


	2. Who the Hell am I Kidding?

AN: **Bold** is answering machine talking. _Italic _is thinking.

_Disclaimer: No own-ie nutin'_

_-Chapter 2: Who the Hell am I Kidding?-_

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8888888888888888888888888 One Month Ago 88888888888888888888888888888

The lights came on in a downtown Tokyo apartment.

"Tadaima."

Haruhi had moved up in the world since Ouran. She walked over to the cabinet by the front door opening it to show the two frames there. She lit a stick of incense and smiled at the happy couple she just hoped that they had found each other in heaven.

It still felt so surreal; her father had been her best friend, her confidant. She could talk to him about anything and even though she hated to burden him with her problems she knew that he would always be there.

It had happened a year ago. Her father had been closing up the bar when one of their frequent patrons ran up to him and the owner and pleaded to go back in. The man lied about leaving something inside so that he could rob them. Her father was no hero, he had too much to live for, but the thief didn't care. He just shot him to prove that he meant business.

She threw her coat and bag over to the couch before tossing her mail on the kitchen counter. She had moved into a one bedroom apartment. It was fully furnished now, and she barely used it, so she didn't really care.

She sighed as she looked at the blinking light of the answering machine. 'Five messages.' She shook her head. 'What do these idiots want now?' She pressed the button and listened to the automated female voice of the answering machine as she started fixing herself some dinner.

"**Haruhi, Takashi, call me.**" Beep.

'_That's weird_.' She shook her head thinking. '_Why didn't he call my cell?_'

"**HARUHI, this is your loving father! I've missed you so much. You don't call enough. PLEASE CALL ME IT'S OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE, LIFE OR DEATH! Not for me really, for once th.**" Beep.

She gave up on dinner for a second and started shuffling through her hand bag. She pulled out her cell phone and sighed sadly looking at the 79 missed calls and 14 messages.

'_Left it on silent after court._' She thought annoyed as she turned the ringer back on.

"**Haru-chan, this is Mitsukuni call me. I've tried your cell phone several times today. Where are you?**" Beep.

'_Honey? I thought he was out of the country on the dojo expo thing until next month?_'

"**Hikaru, she's not answering this number either." She heard shuffling on the line. "So what do you want me to do, Kaoru?" The other twin's voice came through, he sounded agitated. "I don't know, maybe she doesn't have a machine." The younger one was definitely closer to the phone. "Well, then hang up and try her cell again.**" Beep.

The phone rang in her hand, startling her. "Moshi moshi. Please hold on."

"**HARUHI, YOUR STUPID MACHINE CUT ME OFF. I WAS TRYING TO TELL YOU TO CALL ME. BU…**" She turned off the machine so she could hear the person on the phone.

"Sorry, how can I help you?" She took her phone on her shoulder and went back to the kitchen.

"HARUHI, I'M SO HAPPY I CAUGHT YOU." Tamaki's loud and enthusiastic voice came surging through the receiver making her pull back and cringe.

"Calm down Senpai. What did you want?" She wasn't trying to be irritated, but he was so annoying sometimes."

"Haruhi, it's the worst possible thing ever. It's the end of life as we know it and you're probably the only person that can set things right."

As Tamaki continued talking without saying much of anything her house phone rang.

"Senpai, can you hold on please?" She didn't wait for a reply she just picked up the phone. "Moshi moshi."

"Haru-chan!" His voice was still so sweet and innocent, even though it had deepened substantially. She didn't understand how someone of his stature, with a few dojos around the country and in America, a wife and a kid on the way, could still be so child-like.

"Hello, Honey-senpai. I'm sorry can you hold on a minute. I'm on the phone with Tamaki-sempai."

She put the cell phone to her ear and he was still ranting about something, so she just let him and she went back to the house phone. "Do you know why I'm so popular today?"

"Sadly I do. I had to cut my trip short when I heard."

Her heart sunk. She took a deep breath. "Has something bad happened?"

"Well, sort of. Kyouya's been arrested for murder."

"WHAT?" She lifted the cell phone to her ear to hear Tamaki sounding as if he were crying.

"Tamaki-senpai, can I call you later?" She didn't hear him screaming "no" as she hit the end call button. Returning to Honey she saw that there was another incoming call on her cell, it was Mori. She decided to let it go to voice mail.

"Honey-senpai, what happened?"

"I'm not sure myself, I'm in Tokyo for the night and then we're all heading out there tomorrow morning."

"Out where?"

"New York."

'_Of all places._' She thought miserably. Kyouya was a lot of things, but a murder wasn't one of them. She had to think, how many years had it been since she saw him last? About Seven. She was in college, that much she remembered, but time and tears had faded the last few memories of him.

"Are you still there?"

"Yeah," she had to shake her head to refocus.

"So, will you?"

"Will I what?" She couldn't believe she had missed so much of the conversation.

"Will you come to New York with us to see what's going on?"

That was a tall order. She had cases to take care of. Her boss had been riding her about a double homicide of this high profile executive and his mistress. He had placed it with her specifically because she was the best. She couldn't let him down like that.

She shook her head somberly. "Who the hell am I kidding…?" She smiled at herself. "I'm not going to let him down."

8888888888888888888888888888 Seven Years Ago 8888888888888888888888888888

"L is for the way you look at me." Tamaki sang half falling off the stage as he did his dance.

"Be careful Tono!" Hikaru tried to keep him on stage by pushing him towards his younger twin.

"You're going to kill yourself." Kaoru called up to the slightly inebriated blonde swaying back and forth.

Both twins were poking each other finding it a riot, while Mori, who sat with a blank expression, watched Honey who looked as if he were bouncing off of a hot seat with excitement about going next.

"I can't watch this." Haruhi stood shaking her head in embarrassment for their 'king.'

As she made it to the door of their private room a loud, "HARUHI! Don't leave me! I'm singing for you," came before the loud crash of him actually falling off the stage.

"Don't do me any favors Senpai." Without another look back she walked out toward the bar area.

The club was loud and she could feel the bass from the speakers in her chest. She didn't understand why all of these "get togethers" always ended the same. Tamaki would get wasted, mostly because he would fall for all of the twins' drinking games. Mori and Honey would leave early, mostly because these bars lacked sweets and Honey would eat through all of the ones he brought with him. The twins would disappear after Tamaki passed out because there went all of their fun and Kyouya…

'_Where's Kyouya?_' She thought back to the Karaoke Room. He wasn't there when she left. That was strange; he would always help her get Tamaki into his car.

"Didn't like the song choice?"

She jumped slightly at the cold monotone voice coming from behind her. She turned around to see the 'Shadow King' with an amber colored drink in his hand.

"I think I just needed to get some fresh air. Hanging out with you guys is fun and all, but I have classes in the morning." She answered after a slight deliberation. "Plus, a migraine doesn't bode well when I have three lectures back to back."

"He means it you know." Kyouya reached over Haruhi's shoulder closing the proximity between them, all to put his drink back on the bar.

Her mind went blank for a minute. "Who means what?"

The darkness that the sparse lighting offered hid his smirk and the slight roll of his eyes. "Tamaki." When it didn't look like the comment would register he continued. "He really loves you. He's loved you for longer than he's even known."

"Eh?" Haruhi looked for his eyes, but he knew what she was looking for, so he just took off his glasses and acted as if he were cleaning them with a smile on his face. "You don't mean that." She stated matter-of-factly when she couldn't gauge his expression.

"He loves you with all his heart." He replaced his glasses, pushed them up the bridge of his nose with a single finger, dug a hand in his pocket and threw some bills on the bar.

"I'm sorry that things didn't turn out the way you wanted them to, but you need to get over this silly little high school crush you have on me. I'm not going to fall in love with you. If I haven't by now, what keeps giving you hope?" He looked down at her, and his eyes looked almost angry. "He might not make you happy now, but he will, and if he can't he'll spend his whole life trying."

He leaned forward and kissed her gently on her cheek. The feel of his hands on her shoulders made her traitorous knees falter. The feel of his lips on her cheek made her wish that he were kissing her lips; kissing her for real, and she hated herself for enjoying it.

"You're right." Her eyes were on her feet and her voice soft as a whisper. She didn't know how he had heard her over the pounding beat of the music.

His mask faltered for a second, but he recovered quickly. He leaned his forehead on hers. "Good girl."

"You could never love me because you can't stop being selfish." She stated emotionlessly, but pushed him away and made a bee line to the exit.

"How is _this_ me being selfish?" Kyouya demanded when he caught up to her at the door. He shivered unconsciously at the night air. Haruhi didn't seem to mind as she walked away trying to hail a cab, so he shook it off and followed her. "Stop this; I'll give you a ride home." He took her arm.

"No you stay; someone has to take my 'new boyfriend' home." She spat sarcastically snatching her arm away from him as a cab pulled up beside them.

"Why are you being like this? I just want what's best for your happiness." He pleaded, the emotion almost making it to his eyes. He braced for impact as he saw her hand sweeping towards his face, but the sting never came. Instead she knocked on his head gently.

"If you don't want to be with me, you don't have to be, I never asked you to be my boyfriend. I have never asked you for anything, have I?" She waited for an answer, but the question was mostly rhetorical. "You don't need to find my happiness for me; I found it myself, and maybe one day I might find it again."

There was nothing more that he could say. He watched as she got in the cab and closed the door. When she looked out the cab's rear window to watch him walk back to the club that was the last time she'd saw him.

8888888888888888888888888888 Three Hours Prior 8888888888888888888888888888

Kyouya sighed as he followed a short plump maid through the Suoh's main mansion. He had told his scatterbrained best friend that he'd be his ride to the club because the last four times they'd gone out he'd gotten beyond wasted.

As he made his way through the doors the maid disappeared and he searched the room. The first thing that caught his attention was the thought that maybe Fuyumi had paid the former host a visit, because there were clothes everywhere. The second thing he noticed was the sound of music and singing coming from a room he assumed was the closet.

When he leaned his head into the parted doors he had to immediately dodge a pair of pants being tossed in his direction. Content that he'd found the blonde 'king' he pressed the stop button on the CD player and cleared his throat.

"I see eight o'clock means nothing to you."

"AHHH!" Tamaki jumped a foot in the air clasping his chest theatrically and falling to the floor in a heap. "Mon ami, you scared me." He lifted himself gracefully and practically danced to the bespectacled young man. "I'm so happy you're here."

"You knew I was on my way." Kyouya deadpanned as he pushed off any further advances.

"I know, but now you can help me figure out what I'm going to wear." He looked at his stoic friend with stars twinkling in his eyes. "I want tonight to me perfect."

"Why?" He hadn't tried to sound so incredulous, but there really wasn't anything special about tonight.

Tamaki's face took a crimson glow and he ran to his bedside table before returning with a small light blue box.

Kyouya smirked and tried to hide a chuckle. "I'm sorry Tamaki, but I can't return your feelings."

Said boy blanched at the idea and pouted angrily. "It's not for you." He waved off the lighthearted look he was receiving from his best friend. "It's for Haruhi."

The smiled that had threatened to grace the raven haired boy's face fell flat and a fierce look replaced it. Before the blonde could notice it was gone. "I didn't know that you and Haruhi were seeing each other." He stated bluntly.

Again another blush painted the idiot's cheeks. "We're not, but I love her Kyouya. You know that. I've loved her for such a long time and I think that if I told her, if she knew, she would return my feelings."

"That's a bit presumptuous, isn't it?"

There was a pensive look on the Suoh's face before a thought filled his whole face with joy. "You could tell her to think of me, you know, seriously."

"_Me?"_ He almost couldn't cough it out; the sheer lunacy of the request choked him.

"Of course, she listens to you." Without another thought Tamaki continued to prepare for the night ahead. "Yes, this will go splendidly."

Kyouya walked away from the closet and made his way to the bedroom door. "I'm going to wait for you at the car, hurry up." He opened the door and threw a glance back at the blonde shuffling through a mountain of oxfords. "That striped shirt on the bed goes best with those pants you have on." He sighed and stepped out into the hall.

He had no right to try and keep Haruhi to himself. They weren't even together. They'd never be together. If she could be happy with Tamaki then he should help his friend. God knows that the idiot would do _anything_ for the overly bluntly doe eyed brunette.

'_Well, more than I would.'_

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Please read and review

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- Chapter 2: Who the Hell am I Kidding? -


	3. Never Meant to Hurt Her

_A/N: I want to thank everyone to has alerted this story that's awesome and to those who have favorited it I hope that I don't let you down. I also want to thank __**sadevotchka, twixy-chin, and Ashley**__ for reviewing. I really appreciated it._

_I'm pretty sure I didn't say this when I started the story, but I don't have a computer at home and I can update every week on my days off, which are Wednesday. So I hope you'll look out for updates then._

_Disclaimer: Nothing's changed; still poor. Haven't made a dime off writing, probably never will, but it gives me joy. Yay! Happiness! And it gives me a chance to harass Haruhi and Kyouya. Oh and BTW, still don't own OHSHC and I can't believe that I forgot to say that I do not own Law and Order or Law and Order: SVU because a few of those characters show up in this story too…Thanks…_

_**Last time on Defense Mechanism: Haruhi finished her cross examination on Medical Examiner Dr. Melinda Warner. The judge called for a recess till the next day and Haruhi assured Kyouya that she'd clear his name.**_

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- Chapter 3: Never Meant to Hurt Her -

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888888888888888888888888888 A Month Ago 8888888888888888888888888

Haruhi checked her phone for the hundredth time as she scanned the busy airport. All five of them were late. She should have assumed that age wouldn't make them any more mature. It was just last week that the twins had tricked her into playing 'dress up' under the pretense of lunch.

"HARUHI!"

She looked up to see an excited pair of violet blue eyes gleaming under a head of blonde hair; the hand attached waving like a lunatic. People were being pushed out of the way and she could hear the annoyed grumbles of the fellow travelers as Tamaki made his way to her. The group of old women who were his last obstacle stopped to hit him as he tried to push past.

"Senpai." She giggled as she hugged him tightly when he finally made it.

"I've missed you so much." He pulled her into a rib bruising hug, and she let him. "I've told you call me Tamaki. I'm not your senpai anymore." He patted the top of her head and got very serious. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the funeral."

"You were missed, but thank you for the flowers. It meant a lot." She smiled brightly as a thought came to her. "How are the wife and your kids; daughters right?"

"Yes!" He gushed as he searched for his phone. "Makiko is four and Hanaka is three." He reported as he flicked through ambiguous pictures of two very beautiful blonde, blue eyed little girls.

"MOVE!"

Haruhi yelped as two sets of arms wrapped around her and pushed Tamaki out of the way.

"I'm mad at you." She struggled against them as they rubbed their cheeks against her face.

"We're sorry Haruhi." They whined in unison as they nuzzled her tighter. "Can we forget all about it?"

"How can I forget? You posted the shots online." Two hands pulled at her waist, removing her from the twins' grasp. "Hi, Mori-senpai, thank you." She smiled up at her savior before glaring back at the little devils.

"It was only on our site." Kaoru said winking at his brother.

"It was for the purposes of making people notice our designs." Hikaru winked back.

"Don't tell me you want our business to fail?" Kaoru leaned ever so close to her ear.

Pushing him off with little effort she grumbled. "As if the clothes don't already fly off the shelves," she couldn't help roll her eyes, "rich bastards."

"Such a dirty mouth on such a pretty face; huh Takashi?"

"Ah."

Honey stepped out from behind his cousin. "Now that everyone's here, let's get going."

8888888888888888888888888888 Present Day 88888888888888888888888888

Haruhi sat at an uninviting metal desk covered with papers, folders and a half cup of cold stale coffee. There was so much to do. The prosecutor had had over a month to prepare a case, but running in half cocked had landed her knee dip in shit and with just under three weeks to prepare a defense against a mountain of evidence that nailed Kyouya's ass to the wall.

"Ms. Fujioka." A male voice she didn't recognize called her attention to the door in the back of the room. "You really should go get some rest. Sometimes a little sleep can be like fresh eyes looking at something. Or, at least go get something to eat." It was the security guard that watched the crappy overly congested legal aide office she was currently, you could say, "borrowing," but more like high jacking.

She stretched her arms over her head trying her best not to yawn. "I will." She nodded half heartedly, thinking about something that hadn't come to mind before.

"I can see it in your eyes, you look exhausted. Your brain must be on its last licks by now." The young man watched as she went diving into one of the files stacked on the desk.

"Petechial hemorrhaging consistent with strangulation." She read out loud. "What an idiot?" She searched frantically for her phone, scanned through her contacts till she found her quarry, and balanced the phone on her shoulder as she started scanning the file's documents into the computer.

"What happened?" The voice at the door made her jump.

"Here's hoping it's something." She finished scanning and tried the number again. Her fingers flew over the keys until the person she had been dialing answered.

"Kenpachi-san!" She practically cheered into the phone. "Arigatou Kami-sama you answered." She smiled and waited for the man on the line to quiet down.

"Autopsy really?" She rolled her eyes. "Hai. Hai. Gomen." She shook her head as she waited for him to shut up. She was so used to this. The man was overly excitable. If she had to describe him as one of her friends she'd say he had a dark demeanor like Nezakowa-senpai, but fidgety like Tamaki-senpai.

"Ken-san, onegai! I need your help. I've got a case here with petechial hemorrhaging, no ligatures, no marks, no threads, no fibers, and no feathers. Nothing. I sent you the autopsy that was done here by the medical examiner and the crime scene info. Can you look it over and tell me if they missed anything?" She waited impatiently for the whining to stop.

"Yes today!" She smiled brightly as the man on the phone conceded. "I always pay what I owe Ken-san. Domo."

With that she ended her call and turned to the young man at the door. "That was a great idea; a new set of eyes can look at different angles of the story." She smiled making the younger security officer blush.

"B-but I-I…" He stammered as she started to pack up her things.

She looked at her watch and groaned inwardly. "Crap." She sighed. It was already half past three in the morning, she wouldn't get back to the twins' place till at least four, and she had court promptly at eight.

'_Doesn't really matter_,' She thought dejectedly, 'sleepless here or in bed; what's the difference?"

8888888888888888888888888888 Ten Years Ago 8888888888888888888888888

She still didn't know how they came to be in this position. Thoughts were few and far in between at this point, but the last thing she remembered was coming back to his sitting area when she realized she had left her house keys on Kyouya's coffee table. Now she was sure that her shirt had been discarded somewhere near the couch and she assumed his had also been left near there. She remotely remembered sliding it off his chest.

It had been a weird day; Tamaki had sent the twins to abduct her for an emergency Host Club meeting at the Ootori Estate. The conversation revolved around Kyouya and Tamaki's upcoming graduation party, but it hadn't been anything urgent enough to rob her of her precious Sunday. Now in hindsight, she was a little pissed that she answered the door in the first place, but the tingle she felt on her lips, and the way he was kissing his way down her flat belly barred her from holding the "king" in contempt. In fact, now that she found herself very naked and very vulnerable, that whole meeting seemed very inconsequential.

She had always liked Kyouya, call it a fascination if you will, but love was a lofty idea and it never even crossed her mind that he might love her. Was she really ready to take that kind of step with someone who, in previous observations, had the emotional range of an ice cube?

If she wasn't, she hadn't voiced any hostility against the idea yet. In fact, she hadn't voiced much of anything aside from a few "umms" and "ahhs" with a few "oh Kyouyas" in between.

Not that he was being Mr. Motor-mouth either. She had elicited her share of gasps from him too, maybe even a few moans and definitely a growl, but he didn't seem too concerned with their actions, and there didn't seem to be an objection coming from him anytime soon as he positioned himself at her entrance.

Maybe part of her wished she had said something. In truth, after he entered her, the pain had her wishing she would just tell him to stop, but the concern in his eyes and the way he tried to comfort her, with sweet whispers in her ear, had her heart pleading to continue.

What was worse was that if she hadn't come to grips with being in love with Kyouya yet, the feelings that were drowning her right now made it literally hard to breathe. All she wanted at this moment was him and she knew she would give everything she had to him. So, giving into carnal pleasures, her heart screamed out to him as she let the feeling of bliss wash over her, as he let out a strangled groan and she felt him go slightly limp on top of her.

All sweaty, her heart pounding in her chest she could barely think straight. Her body felt so sore and she watched in awe as Kyouya stood from the bed in all his naked glory and started rummaging through his dresser.

He pulled out a black top, a pair of boxers and a pair of Khakis before making his way to the door on the other side of the room. Haruhi assumed it was the bathroom.

"I'm going to take a shower." His voice cut through the silence that seemed so comfortable a minute ago, but now seemed to be choking the life out of her.

"Okay?" Was her meager reply.

"Look," his tone was cold again. Colder than it had ever been when he had been talking to her. "I know you're not used to these types of things, but don't be here when I get out."

Those words fell on top of her head. Everything she had felt… How did this happen? All her life she had been guarded. She had kept a wall up keeping everyone at a safe distance, just because things like this happened to people who were too loose with their affections. Because, like with everything else that happens in life, people let you down.

As she heard the click from the bathroom door in the eerily silent room, she suddenly felt a cold wet drop on her cheek. She lifted her hand to inspect, but as her vision began to blur and she felt the sob that was tearing through her chest she knew what it was.

Feeling stupid, she picked up her scattered clothes and put them on slowly. She made sure not to forget her keys as she left the estate this time. The hole in her heart didn't feel like it would ever go away, but that didn't stop her from praying that this was all just a sick joke and that Kyouya would just come running down the stairs laughing at her. It would have been a cruel joke, something worthy of the twins, but the alternative was much worse.

When she reached the front door she knew it was all too real and the burning in her eyes told her that she had to hurry and make her exit. There was no reason she should give him anything else to pride himself on. '_He made Haruhi cry.'_ She could just see the sinister smirk on his face. So proud of himself, breaking the strong little commoner girl.

Despite the pain she felt, both physically and emotionally, she waved off Tachibana and told him that she would rather walk home. Personally, she didn't want it to get back to the 'Shadow King' that she'd cried.

Kyouya stood at the bathroom door. He was half hoping she would start screaming, or banging on the door angrily, or start throwing fragile things to try and hurt him financially, but when he didn't hear anything from the other side he just stood there until he slid to the cold marble floor.

This was Haruhi after all. She wasn't prone to such demonstration of hysteria. She was so calm all the time. He wanted her to get angry. He would have been angry. Yet, she would go down the path of least resistance.

'_What an asshole!_'

He hadn't planned this. He didn't know what had come over him. He hadn't meant to hurt her. If he'd known that they would wind up in bed together he wouldn't have kissed her. He loved Haruhi, he had been in love with her for what felt like forever, but that didn't matter, because he wouldn't let her end up with a dysfunctional jerk like him. She didn't deserve that and if he had to break her heart now, before things got serious, before he could break her or ruin her, so be it.

It had been so hard for him to get out of that bed. How many nights had he dreamt of holding her in his arms? Of having her whisper those words he so badly needed to hear, but when she said them he immediately wished she would take them back. Who was he to deserve her love?

He wasn't just his father's son, in his effort to push past his brothers so he could be named heir he had become his father. Neither man understood or knew love. All they knew, all Kyouya had ever wanted, was power. That was what it meant to be an Ootori. One day he would pick the company up to new heights. There was no place for love, and he knew that eventually he would ruin Haruhi the way his father ruined his mother. It would happen eventually because that was the type of men they were.

Thinking back, though, he couldn't believe she had said she loved him. He didn't even know if she had realized it herself. It was such a faint sigh; practically in audible, but it was there. That slip of the tongue, whisper in the wind, kind of thing you hear that warms you and freezes you in an instant. He fought the urge to reciprocate. He had stopped himself so many times before. Sometimes he would just pass her and her name would fly out of his mouth and she would look up at him expectantly and he would shut down his heart and say nothing.

This time he reacted. Badly, yes, but it needed to be done before she really fell in love with him. Before she could realize what an empty existence being in love with Ootori Kyouya was. Maybe one day she could forgive him. Maybe then he could forgive himself.


	4. Can You Teach Me How To Love?

**Big thanks to twixy-chin, Kudos4U, KateValentine, Katarina, and Since the Beginning... you guys rock**

_Disclaimer: Do I really need to write one on every chapter? I've seen stories without a disclaimer at all. Everyone knows I don't own Ouran. Did any of you really think I did?_

* * *

- Chapter 4: Can You Teach Me How To Love? -

* * *

88888888888888888888888888888 A Month Ago 88888888888888888888888888888

The plane ride had been uneventful. Everyone tried to avoid Tamaki like the plague because he wouldn't shut up about his daughters. They were cute, sure, but enough was enough. In fact it wasn't until Mori had called out for him to shut up that he finally put away the pictures and sulked silently the rest of the trip.

Despite the negative underlining factors that had brought them together again, she was having fun being with her friends. Yet, that sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach wouldn't let her relax. 'What did you get yourself into Kyouya?"

Once the plane landed they were on their way to Riker's Island. Haruhi knew a little something about getting in and out of a jail, from a lawyer's stand point, but this place was nothing like anything she'd ever been in before. Everywhere you looked there were angry looking people. The visitor waiting to see their loved one, the lawyers waiting to see their clients, the inmates that were shuffling past the huge iron bars, and even the corrections officers looked angry.

The petite brunette walked over to the only officer that didn't look as if he were homicidal and smiled sweetly. "Hello, I'm here to see Kyouya Ootori."

"Get in line." He didn't give her another look before getting up and walking away from the desk.

Haruhi felt extremely put out by his rudeness and ventured a response when a voice from behind her grabbed her attention. "Are you a lawyer?" She turned around to see a short pudgy man with thick rimmed glasses and a thick mustache talking to her. He wore a black suit that looked as if it were tailored for a child, but let out because he got too "husky" for it, because it still looked kind of tight. He was shorter than Honey had been in high school.

She nodded apprehensively, not really knowing what this strange little man wanted.

"Oh." He pulled his glasses off and cleaned them with a dirty looking blue handkerchief. "That's odd." He returned his spectacles to his face and dug in his portfolio pulling out a worn out yellow legal pad. "I've been representing Mr. Ootori for almost two weeks now. I wasn't under the impression that he had other legal council."

"I'm an old friend of his." She smiled timidly. She didn't like stepping on other people's toes, but no prosecutor, or jury for that matter, would take this imp of a man seriously and this was her friend's livelihood on the line. "I came as soon as I heard, we all did." She directed his attention to the motley crew sitting on the benches looking rather lost, yet thoroughly entertained.

"Oh, I see." He looked at his watch and thought about something before looking back up at her. "Well, I have an appointment with Mr. Ootori in a few minutes. There is a very tight schedule for lawyer/client meetings. I won't be able to get you all in, but I could probably let them know that you're a lawyer and that you'll be joining me today to assist with Mr. Ootori's case." Without any further thought he ushered her to the guard that had been rude to her earlier.

"Good morning officer." The little man looked almost cheerful as he greeted the hostile looking guard.

"Who are you here to see?" The man's voice had such a gruffness that Haruhi was seriously intimidated.

"Ootori."

"Right… gimme you're ID." Kyouya's lawyer nudged Haruhi to tell her to give the guard her stuff and gave him his own.

"So…" The officer looked over the identification and keyed it into the computer before handing them each a pass. "You've got an hour."

Haruhi ran over to her friends to tell them the news and even though they were disappointed that they couldn't go with her they were happy that Kyouya would be getting help soon.

Haruhi and the "little" person, she just realized she hadn't asked his name yet, had just taken their seats when Kyouya was ushered in. His hands were cuffed to a long chain that connected to leg irons. He was sporting a rather fresh looking bruise on his cheek and on the opposite side of his face a nearly swollen black eye; his infamous glasses nowhere in sight.

Yet, in such a miserable place, under such horrible conditions he had the nerve to still look cool and completely detached from the situation; until he saw Haruhi. Maybe it was the look she gave him, the way her eyes seemed to glisten with unshed tears, but he immediately hung his head trying, unsuccessfully, to hide his face.

The guards removed his restraints and he took a seat in the little room.

"Hello Mr. Ootori." His lawyer started.

Kyouya crossed his arms and bore his eyes into Haruhi's. "What are you doing here?" He practically growled in Japanese.

The lawyer, who had been rummaging through his bag hadn't noticed the animosity and answered. "I'm sorry; I don't think I understood…" He looked up and saw the angry looks being exchanged and realized the question wasn't directed to him. Slowly he let out a timid, "Oh…" before stepping out to give them a minute.

As soon as they were alone Kyouya cleared his throat and repeated himself. "What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you again too, Senpai." Haruhi deflected, but when he didn't look amused she shrugged apathetically. "I heard you needed a lawyer."

"As you can see I have one." He bit out, his expression unchanging.

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Legal aide, are you serious? Why are you even in here?"

Kyouya looked away as if she'd embarrassed him. "I've got it covered."

"Yeah I can tell; looks like your cellmate's having a field day "keeping you company."

"Don't worry about me."

"I don't." She started to heatedly pull a legal pad and pen out of her bag. "But those idiot friends of yours do worry and they won't stop until they know you're ok."

"They're here?" He asked, his head sinking slightly.

"Yeah, where else would they be?"

Haruhi noticed that the pudgy little man had returned and politely stood by the door, so she signaled him to return. When he reached his seat she pulled a stack of documents out of her bag and spoke perfect English. "You probably think that I'm the rudest person you've ever met, because I haven't even asked your name, but I'm going to ask that you step down from this case and let me defend Mr. Ootori."

The attorney pulled his dirty blue handkerchief out again and started wiping his forehead agitatedly. "I-I don't know… I'd have to discuss it with my client." He began rather nervous.

"I don't want you as my lawyer." Kyouya was glaring again, talking in English too so as not to keep his lawyer out of the loop.

"Listen," Haruhi shook her head, she couldn't believe he was being so stubborn; it wasn't like him to not take the most efficient path to solving a problem. She put her hand on the other man's hand and offered one of her best host smiles. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but you're legal aide. How many cases do you have on your desk right now? You can't give Mr. Ootori the attention that he requires; you couldn't even keep him out of jail. He should be out on bail right now, not getting his ass kicked behind bars."

There she was; the strong, passionate Haruhi that he had always found so interesting. She still held such high moral convictions and such undeniable logic. How had she not become jaded working for the courts? How could she still… no. He almost scoffed at the idea. She's doing this for them. He nodded gently assuring himself of the truth. '_She'd never go this far out of her way for me. Baka! She's probably here because HE begged her_.' He thought bitterly.

He could see his lawyer sputtering and almost laughed. Yeah, Haruhi was scrappy, but what kind of lawyer couldn't even stand up for himself.

"Alright." He interrupted their conversation, but both lawyers stopped mid-sentence to look up at him. "I'll let you represent me."

Haruhi felt a little smug on the inside, be refused to let it show. "You'll have to sign this." She pushed him the stack of paperwork. "All this says is that I'll take over the case wherever your prior attorney left off, but that he'll still be bound to attorney/client privilege." She looked over to the obviously depressed man beside her. "I'm going to need his files and anything you've received from the prosecution."

Sadly, the man nodded and began to pack his things. "Where do you want it all sent?"

It was a good question; she didn't even know where she'd be staying. "Do you think that I'd be able to borrow an office in your firm?" She smiled sheepishly for having to ask.

Kyouya smirked and she kicked him under the table.

It seemed to go unnoticed. "I'll ask around and get back to you." He handed her a card and told her that whenever she was ready to go over everything he would make himself available.

She nodded and shook his hand with a sincere thank you before he left. Turning back to the youngest Ootori, who was acting as if he were looking over the contract in front of him, she let a small smile grace her lips. "Don't worry Kyouya; I'll get you out of this." She whispered to herself.

"You'd better."

8888888888888888888888 Nine Years Eleven Months Ago 88888888888888888888888

The lights seemed to dance around the room joyously. Everyone in attendance looked so happy, except her. She was there for moral support, she assumed, but with each passing second and each glass of champagne she lifted off of each passing waiter she couldn't remember. She couldn't deny that she was happy to see him graduate, that way she could finally be rid of him.

It had been a very long month. She had tried to make it seem as if nothing had changed, but everything had and she did a lousy job of hiding it. She gave her fake smiles to her guests and she even let Tamaki hug her as tightly as he usually did without fighting it. She focused on what was important: school, her guests, her friends and her father.

So what if every time she caught a glimpse of that bespectacled asshole her traitorous heart would race and she'd want to cry. So what if he ignored her as if she never existed. She didn't care that every time he walked by his scent would stir up tiny butterflies in her stomach and images of his bare chest and his nimble fingers on her skin would flash through her memory. She didn't need him to love her. She had made a mistake. No matter how much her heart ached and told her that she loved him, she didn't. 'It was all lies.' She reprimanded herself for having such feelings. Once he was out of sight the hormones would quell and she'd be back to normal.

The twins, however, only made things worse. She had every class with them and they could tell that something was different. At the beginning, they would constantly ask why she wasn't hanging around after hosting anymore, but stopped when she agreed to spend more time alone with them.

Eventually, even that wasn't enough for them, they wanted their Haruhi back,' so they incited Tamaki to take up the cause by telling him that she was depressed and that she hated the host club and threatened to leave. This news started the 'Cheer Up Haruhi and Keep her in the Host Club' game; which began with massive plates of ootoro and frequent visits from Honey and Mori baring strawberry cakes.

When that didn't work to their satisfaction, Tamaki would just show up at her house with 'commoner' snacks and movies, staying till all times of the night; in hopes that she wouldn't be lonely. However, that soon began to grate and Haruhi stopped answering the door. He would stand there knocking, sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes for hours, yet she would do her best to ignore it, because even though she appreciated everything her friends were doing, she just wanted to be alone.

She couldn't fault their attempts at cheering her; for the most part they were working, despite that fact that she still felt overly distracted. She was really happy when she was around her friends, and she barely thought about the whole Kyouya thing, but he was always there. At first he would wiggle his way out of hanging out with them, but Tamaki would get insistent that he stay, saying that 'Mother doesn't care if daughter leaves.' Yet, most times, even though he was present, he still made sure to avoid eye contact with her and to never sit next to, in front of or in the general line of site or vicinity of her.

However, it was as if there was no avoiding him tonight. She didn't know if it was her subconscious that was seeking him out, or just plain old bad luck, but everywhere she looked there he was. It felt like he was taunting her. 'That insincere smile, those expressionless eyes, those warm inviting arms… NO!' She couldn't let him inch his way into her mind again. 'He's not worth your time. He's not worth your time.' She repeated to herself silently.

"Right?"

"Eh?" She looked up at Hikaru who had been trying to hold an intelligent conversation, despite her 'huh's' and 'eh's' and various 'can you say that again's.' She grabbed for another champagne flute and almost fell over if not for Hikaru's quick hands.

"Maybe you've had enough." He chuckled lightly. "What's wrong Haruhi, it's not like you to drink this much?"

She looked away and caught a glimpse of Kyouya's cold glare and wished she'd caught that last drink. _'Why's he glaring? He's got some balls being mad at me.'_ She was so angry her head started to spin and she almost dropped right where she was standing.

"Whoa!" Hikaru's arms went flying around her waist unceremoniously hoisting her to her feet. "Maybe you need a little fresh air." He exchanged a quick look with his brother, who had encouraged him to go talk to Haruhi in the first place, signaling where he was headed. Then he led the inebriated heroine to the terrace.

Together they sat in silence until Haruhi let out a deep sigh. "I'm always here if you have something you want to get off of your chest." Hikaru offered for the millionth time. Over the past month, it always seemed as if he was trying to get her to open up to him, to just get everything out in the open, but she couldn't. She kept telling herself that there was nothing to tell because what had happened was just a mistake and it wasn't worth another thought. She watched as he leaning his elbows on the railing as he stared over the garden.

She didn't say anything for a long time, but she eventually turned to look at him. "Do you think you've ever been in love?"

The question caught him off guard and he almost dropped the champagne flute he'd been absently twirling in his fingers. He blinked at her a few times, but she didn't seem to waiver. She just looked at him expectantly. He set the glass on the railing and went back to his previous position, trying to hide the blush that painted his fair skin. "Yes, and I still love her very much."

She pressed her back against the railing and nodded her head as if she'd received the answer to all her questions. She looked through the terrace doors and saw Kyouya standing with his father, probably being introduced to a business partner's family. Without hesitation he reached out to the man's daughter's hand and kissed it looking flirtatiously into the young woman's eyes before she swooned into partial unconsciousness. When the girl's father carted her away Kyouya finally looked up to see that Haruhi had witnessed the entire exchange. All he offered her was a smirk and she turned her eyes to Hikaru, who was still looking over the garden.

"Hikaru…" She started but stopped when his eyes caught hers. "H-have you… well, I'm not good at this…" She shook her hands to will them still. "Do y-you think…" She looked down at her shoes, his gaze was too intense. "Do you think you can teach me how to love?"

Hikaru was floored. What was that? It wasn't a confession. She didn't say she loved him, the way he hoped that one day she would. Yet, maybe this was her way. Maybe this was the most she could give of herself. It didn't feel all that great, but if he could have her… if she'd be his, and maybe it was just him being selfish, but that was enough for him.

He lifted her chin so that he could look in her eyes and his heart fell. She looked so broken, like it tore her heart out to ask him that. He had been about to accept her offer, despite what his own heart was telling him, until she started crying; then realization his him. He instinctively pulled her into a warm embrace. Her shoulders shook violently as she sobbed into his chest. She wasn't asking him to help her love, she was asking him to help her forget.

"Who hurt you Haruhi?" His voice came out choked in a deep whisper. This hurt so bad. He hated to see her like this. This wasn't the blunt, strong, level-headed girl he had fallen in love with. This was a shell left over after she'd lost her heart.

He had been trying to make his way over to her all night. Maybe it was because he was leaving, or maybe it was because he couldn't take the distance anymore, he didn't know, all he knew was that he wanted to talk to her. He wanted to put this whole sordid 'thing' behind them and try at some sort of semblance at what they'd been. Yet, every time he took two steps away from his father he was reeled back in to meet someone else.

This was getting out of hand. He sent a frigid glare at that damn twin. He finally had a second to himself and that redheaded bastard, it didn't matter which one it was, was wasting his time. _'Why can't I just get a fucking minute to talk to her?'_ He watched as her facial expression changed. _'Shit! Why's she glaring at me? Don't tell me she thinks…'_ What did it matter? It's not like she didn't already hate him.

A voice broke into his thoughts. _'Wasn't that the point of throwing her out, hadn't you wanted her to hate you?'_

'_No.' _He hadn't wanted her to hate him, just not love him. After what had happened that afternoon a month ago she'd changed. She never smiled the way she used to and eventually the realization had sunk in that he had broken her heart. Yet, ever time he tried to mend things between them his resolution faltered and he was back to glaring off in any direction that she wasn't looking in. He couldn't face her and eventually it became easier and easier to avoid her. She'd heal on her own and it looked as if the host club was doing a good job of keeping her spirits up, so everything would be okay.

Yet, his dreams were flooded with memories of her. Sleep came slow, if it came at all, and when it did all he heard was her whispers of 'I love you.' The way her skin burned against his, the way her mouth tasted and the smell of strawberry and lavender that wafted from her every pore.

His anger was getting the best of him when he saw that devil doppelganger put his hands all over 'his' Haruhi. '_Where did this possessive thought come from? She was no more his than the moon_.' Yet, his hands balled into fists and he was about to charge out onto the terrace to speak his mind when his father caught his arm again.

'_FUCK!_' He cursed with a roll of his eyes. This was supposed to be his graduation party. There were millions of other engagements where he could meet these jerks. It didn't have to be tonight. He looked over the crowd at Tamaki who was just as busy doing the meet and greet with his dad. Kyouya doubted he'd seen Haruhi being escorted out of the room, because he was sure that the chairman wouldn't have been able to stop his son's tirade.

Without another moments hesitations he resolved that this would be the last person he'd let his father introduce him to. The man was so average looking Kyouya was sure that he'd never remember him if he saw him again, but his daughter he did remember. She was a Host Club regular, one of his fan girls, not that he remembered her name without his notebook. He leaned forward and took her hand in his kissing it gently. "Thank you for all of your business throughout the years. I hope that we can continue to do business in the future."

The girl practically fainted into her father's arms. _'That's the way to do it, and I didn't even need her name.' _He looked up to see if Haruhi was still on the terrace when he caught her eyes on him. He smirked despite himself. _'Great she's still there.'_ However, she quickly turned back to her companion. Finally out of his father's grasp he closed the distance between himself and the doors, but when he heard her stuttering he chickened out and pushed himself against the wall. She was fighting to say something and his mind fought him not to interrupt.

"Do you think you can teach me how to love?"

His heart sank. _'What sliver of hope had I been hanging on to?'_ He berated himself. They hadn't talked in over a month. There was no 'friendship' to patch together. He hadn't broken her favorite mug or ruined her favorite shirt; he'd had sex with her and threw her out like trash. He'd given into his desires and punished her for his inability to be a 'normal' guy. He was right to let her go. He'd been sorry he hurt her, but things were better this way; the only way. She'd be better off without the power hungry, roll everyone under the bus, take no prisoners egoist that he was. His heart was shattered, sure, but with all his soul he hoped she could find happiness.

**Thanks for reading please let me know what ya' think**


	5. Still None of your Business

_**I have to work this Wednesday, so I figured why hold the update. I'd like to thank sadevotchka, Since the Beginning, E. and scheherazade for reviewing. I'd also like tothank everyone who favorited and alerted the story. That's awesome too. BTW... I was having trouble with the layout of the story. It kept left justifying eveything and it didn't let me make seperators. Sorry, I'll try to fix it later.**_

_**Last time on Defense Mechanism: Haruhi called on a colleague for help with herca**__**se. **__**Even **__**though he'd given her a hard time about it he agreed giving her a chance to go home and get some sleep.**_

- Chapter 5: Still None of your Business -

Present Day

The light buzzing sound at the side of her head woke her from the dreamless state she could almost call sleep. Without lifting her head she reached for the vibrating phone on the bedside table and flipped it open.

"What?" She groggily spat over the line.

"Good morning to you too, my darling daughter." Tamaki practically sang into his phone. "You've been spending too much time with Mother because you're starting to be quite rude in the morning too."

Haruhi rubbed the back of her head and looked at the screen to get an update on the time. "It's not even six, Senpai, what do you want?"

"Well, I was wondering when you plan on calling me to testify?"

She could hear a loud commotion on the other side of the line that sounded oddly similar to the noises coming from the other side of her door. Without a reply Haruhi hung up and swung her legs out of bed before grabbing her robe. When she made it out of her room and into the kitchen she instantly regretted getting out of bed.

"Haru-chan!" Honey hugged her around the waist practically knocking her down.

"Haruhi, why did you hang up on me?" Tamaki whined from a crouched position at a rather dark corner.

Pans where falling from cupboards and there were already several eggs splattered on the tiled floors. "Haruhi, what do you want for breakfast?" Kaoru was already quite dirty with what she could only assume was pancake batter, but she had no idea where it came from, because there didn't seem to be any pancakes in the making.

"We wanted to make breakfast for our own little Johnny Cochrane!" Hikaru had a step ladder out and was rummaging through the cabinets. He pulled out a stack of dishes, only to lose his balance before he could make it down. The loud crash of glass breaking filled the air.

88888888888888888888888888888 A Month Ago

Mr. McCoy was seeing red and shooting smoke out of his ears when the judge agreed to allow this slip of a foreign attorney to take over for legal aide. He had flipped out when the judge awarded the new council extra time to prepare, but was rewarded when Haruhi thankfully declined saying that her client wanted the proceedings moved up in the docket so he could get it over with.

"Your Honor, I would also like for you to reconsider bail. Your Honor my client is a well respected business man with a booming conglomerate with several offices in New York. He has strong ties to the community and he's on the cover of this week's issue of Newsweek and last month's issue of Time, where is he going to hide. He has no prior history of violence and has never had any other run-ins with the law because this is an isolated incident."

The prosecutor was about to object when Haruhi interrupted him offering to turn in Kyouya's passport, saying he would wear an electronic monitoring device and pay five million in bail.

The judge sighed and turned to the prosecutor shaking her head. It didn't matter what he could say in dispute, she was going to allow it.

"Is there anything else?" The judge looked over at Haruhi with a tired sigh.

Haruhi dug in her briefcase and removed a few blue backed documents. "Actually I'm moving to suppress the genetic evidence."

"On what grounds!" Mr. McCoy exploded as he skimmed over the brief.

Haruhi's eyes never left the judge. "Your Honor, the genetic evidence only clarifies that the defendant had sexual relations with the victim, not that she was raped. The crime scene photos show no sign of a struggle and the lack of defensive marks on both my client and the victim give reason to the assumption that the sex was consensual."

"Your Honor…" The District Attorney started but was waved off.

"She's right McCoy, the DNA evidence is out. Anything else?" This time her tone was exasperated.

Both councilors shook their heads and headed out of the room. "We've still got a mountain of evidence against your client."

"I look forward to chopping through all of it. When a case is unfounded like this one is, it's easy to see through the evidence to get to the truth."

8888888888888888888888 Nine Years Eight Months Ago 888888888888888888888888

The phone rang and shook violently on the desk next to him. The stupid look of the twins glared back at him from the brightly lit screen. The noise stopped and he continued typing away at the laptop he'd been staring at before. He looked at the screen and sighed. It was half past two and he couldn't sleep. The paper he was working on wouldn't be due for a couple weeks, but if he had to fight insomnia British-Lit was the way to do it.

The sound of that annoying ringtone and the vibrations against the desk once again filled the room. With the same patience he used to exhibit back in high school he answered the phone with a deadpan "Hello."

"Kyouya, it's Haruhi she just passed out in class." The frantic sound of the eldest twin's voice stilled his heart, catching his breath. "She just fainted and when we lifted her to take her to the nurse she was covered in blood."

"What happened?" His mind was spinning. There was nothing he could do from London. He was half a day away.

"We don't know." He could tell Hikaru had been asking himself the same thing. "But I called you because we're on our way to one of your family's hospitals, can you tell them to take like, better care of her than anybody else. Tell them that she's a friend of yours so that they don't let her die or something."

Kyouya would have scoffed if this hadn't been so serious. Ootori Hospitals give their best care to everyone, but he did want special care taken with Haruhi.

"No problem." He absently said into the phone. His mind was warring with his heart right now. He could be in Tokyo before midnight if he left right now, but what would he be going for. Haruhi didn't want to see him. She'd made that clear when she was practically making out with Hikaru at his graduation party. There wasn't anything between them anymore, not that there ever was. They hadn't been dating, hell they were barely friends. No, it was best for everyone involved if he just stayed there and finished his British-Lit paper and ignored the tightness in his chest. Yes, that was for the best.

88888888888888888888888888 Twenty Years Ago 8888888888888888888888888

Together they walked hand in hand through the white corridors, stopping at ever corner to make sure that no one was following or watching too closely.

"I don't know why you're doing this Fuyumi-nee-san, if Otou-sama finds out then we'll both be in trouble." Kyouya's voice was already growing impassive for his young age and it made his sister grit her teeth.

"Kyou-chan-"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" His emotionless shell cracked and he interrupted with a shout.

The sudden outburst surprised her, but it filled her heart with sadness. Stooping to one knee she pulled her brother in for a tight embrace. "No matter what happens, _Kyouya_, I will always be there for you. I will always love you more than anything in the world." She held him out at arms length so she could look him in the eyes. "I brought you here because I fear disappointing Kaa-san more than antagonizing Tou-san." She took his hand again and returned to her mission.

"Otou-sama said that he doesn't want me to come here. He said that I'll get in the way." Kyouya hung his head as he followed close behind.

"Well, Kaa-san wants to see you." They stopped at the door to her mother's room and she waved with a small smile at the lone nurse sitting at the station. "Please do me a favor, _Kyou…ya_. Please smile for Kaa-san even if you don't want to." With a slight tip of his head she slid the door open and pushed him in.

The curtains in the room were drawn and the bright sunlight flooded the space making the situation cheerier than warranted. On the bed facing the window sat a beautifully young woman with long, wavy black hair. She looked frail despite her strong spirit and he fought the tears that burned his eyes for the smile he had promised.

"Ohayou Okaa-sama." He greeted from the door and the woman turned her head to him with a brilliant smile.

"Ohayou Kyou-chan. Come here. Come here, let me see you. You've gotten so tall; I can't believe that it's only been a few months." Her voice was soft and barely above a whisper, but she wanted to hide her delicate condition. "I've missed you." She sat up and he hugged her tightly losing to the tears that filled his eyes. "Oh, so you have missed me too." She chided teasingly.

"I'm sorry Kaa-san, I'm so sorry." He pulled her securely. "I'm so sorry I made you sick."

"No, no please don't think that." She pulled him up onto the bed and held him close. "Oh, Kyou-chan, you're not the reason I'm sick."

"But Tou-san said-"

"No!" She interrupted. "Your tou-san loves you. He just doesn't know how to show it all the time." She let him snuggle on the bed with her. "When you get older you're going to find someone that you love as much as your father loves me and you're not always going to know what to do or to say to her. You might even get to a point where you're going to have to share her like your father has to share me with you and your siblings and it's going to be hard, but you need to try. You need to let her know that you love her more than anything in the world, do you hear me?" She tilted his chin so that she could look in his eyes. "Always let the people that you love know that you love them."

"I love you, Kaa-san."

The admission made her laugh. "I love you too Kyou-chan." A comfortable silence fell between them and it was all that was needed.

88888888888888888888888 Nine Years Eight Months Ago 88888888888888888888888

The door slid opened gently, almost hesitantly, and she closed her eyes assuming it was another nurse coming to poke or steal blood from her. Visiting hours had ended hours ago, not that she felt like visiting with anyone anyway. The room had been slightly abuzz with the twins there all day. With Tamaki and Kyouya away at school overseas and Mori and Honey busy with college and their family businesses, both of them were left to try their best to cheer her up all by themselves.

She heard the quick squeaky footsteps that the head nurse's shoes made and sighed. '_Who else would it be?_' She thought miserably.

"They're keeping her overnight because she bled out badly. The ER had to pump two bags into her." She heard the nurse explaining dryly and inwardly groaned thinking that the nurse must be training someone.

"Thank you." She knew that voice. Her eyes instinctively shot open and she turned to look for the owner.

"You're awake." The head nurse was an attractive older woman who had acted as if she could care less the whole night, until now. With the young Ootori in the room she had the nerve to stand there with this stupid smile on her face.

"What are you doing here?" Haruhi ignored the sideways glance she got from the nurse as she excused herself to leave her patient with this rather powerful young man.

"I heard you were in the hospital." His remark was deadpan, but the amused look in his eye made Haruhi want to punch him.

"So you came all the way from Oxford to see if I was okay?" She had hoped to keep her emotions in check the next time she saw him, but the bitter feeling she got from looking at him spilled into her words.

"Is that wrong?"

'_Is he trying to play with me?_' She thought sourly. "You shouldn't have wasted your time." The words hurt to say. She hated what he had done, but she still loved him.

"Why would you say that?" He took a seat beside the bed and crossed his arms, a bemused look on his face, but her words had hurt him too. He hid the sting behind his cool façade, but it took everything in him to not go to her, hold her, and tell her how much he loved her. No, he couldn't; she didn't feel that way about him.

Haruhi rolled her eyes and tried her best to hold back her tears. "Just mind your business and go home."

"That's your problem Haruhi. You don't think that this is my business. You getting pregnant was my business." His cool had dissolved and he couldn't stop the rage that coated his tone.

"WELL I'M NOT PREGNANT ANYMORE! SO IT'S STILL NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" She couldn't fight the tears back anymore, but she couldn't sob either. He didn't deserve to see her all broken up over him. He didn't deserve to see her writhe in pain after losing her unborn child. This was private.

He knew he shouldn't have come. He should have stayed in his dorm room and ignored the call from Hikaru to begin with. She was right, this wasn't his business anymore. Nodding he got up from his chair and walked over to the door. "If you would have told me that you got pregnant I would have supported you." He said over his shoulder.

"I didn't need or want your support." Her voice, so hoarse, barely carried over to him.

He nodded again, this time because it was all he could offer as a response. He loved her. He had always loved her; but this is what destiny had planned for them; for him. Broken angry people were meant to stay broken and angry. No matter whom he ended up with in the end all he could offer was pain. His head sunk and "I'm sorry" slipped through his lips as he slid the door open and walked out sliding it shut behind him.

"I'm sorry too, Kyouya." Her words echoed in the empty room.

V - V - V - V - V -V

He slid the door shut and leaned back against it, hanging his head. Things had turned out so badly for him, but they just kept getting worse because some part of him kept hanging onto this girl. He couldn't let go. Every time he told himself that this was the last time, that he was going to forget about her and move on, he ended up in situations like this.

Ignoring the looks from the hospital staff he grabbed at his hair and let out a loud, angry sigh. 'It's over. Stop trying to fix things because there is nothing there left to fix.' He took off his glasses and wiped at his face roughly. 'She doesn't love you!' He leaned back again pulling at the seam of his shirt. Nodding at himself he lifted off of the door and started to leave only to be glomped as soon as the elevator doors opened.

"Mother! You came." Tamaki hugged his friend tightly before throwing him to arms length. "How is our daughter? I came as soon as I heard."

Kyouya, who'd been taken off guard pushed the excite teen away from him and adjusted his glasses. "She's resting."

"So she's okay? What happened? Why did she collapse? Hikaru said that he heard one of the nurses say it was a miscarriage. How could she have had a miscarriage, Kyouya? How did we not know our little girl was sexually active?" Tamaki wailed pulling on Kyouya's shirt.

The raven haired teen fought against the urge to punch his best friend in the face for being so loud because he knew it was just his own anger at himself. Replacing his mask of indifference he pushed for the elevator again. "I'm sure if she wanted us to know she would have told us."

That answer seemed to satisfy his blond companion and when the sensor dinged he pointed down the hall. "Just tell them I told you to visit her and they should let you in. If not call me." He stepped into the elevator and waved. "I'll see you later."

Tamaki grabbed the door, stopping it from closing. "Later, tomorrow, or later when we get back from college for spring break?"

"Probably, later when I graduate." He smirked at the incredulous look from his friend as the hand stopping the door slipped away and was replaced with a thin frown. Kyouya turned away from the mirror-like reflection of the elevator doors and looked at the floor, biting back a sad smile. "Bye, Haruhi."

- V - - V - - V - - V

As always, please review. thanks


	6. Please Love Him

_****__**Hello everyone! I wasn't going to update, but I got a chance to swing by the computer lab so I said why not... I wanted to thank everyone who reviewed: May contain Randomness, KyouyaOotori17, Scheherazade, and Kate Valentine. I also wanted to answer a few of the questions I got last chapter...**_

_****__**MCR: to me crime and lawyers go together. It makes sence that Haruhi's life would be swiming with it.**_

_****__**KO17: He can't tell her he loves her because he loves her too much to let her get hurt by him long term. He is his father's son and there is only heartache down that road. I'm sorry, I thought I explained that back in chapter 3. **_

_****__**Scheherazade: Kyouya is and has always been, in my opinion, an egoist, just like he said. The problem with egoists is that they are their own worst enemies. He is rather off putting and that makes this whole "emotional mess" his fault. BTW, Did you read chapter/83 of the manga. It was so awesome when Honey called him out on his feelings. Even then with just the seniors in ear shot he still chose loneliness.**_

_****__**KateV: I can't either, but I am thankful for the fatefuls I have and welcome any new comers that want to start reviewing..Also, thank you for the compliment. I think it's a product of a Law and Order addiction. Also yay AT&T.**_

_****__**On with the story. It's almost twice as long as I usually update. Sorry to those reading on non-smartphones. I feel your pain I have an old samsung too and I can't read updates longer than 3k. That's why I steal my husband's droid. LOL...**_

_****__**Last Time on Defense Mechanism: The host club guys showed up at Haruhi's to surprise her with breakfast.**_

- Chapter 6: Please Love Him -

8888888888888888888888888 Twenty-One Years Ago 88888888888888888888888888

Kyouya's little fingers tapped happily on the keyboard as he watched his mother sipping tea. "Kaa-san, I look like Tou-san, ne?" His smile so bright and warm, his eyes almost sparkling.

A light chuckle escaped her lips as she assured him that he indeed looked just like his father. "Kyou-chan, please don't play with the papers." She had meant it as a warning, but she couldn't wipe the grin off her face as she watched her youngest son stacking and shuffling through documents, acting as if he could read them.

A cough from the doorway called her attention to the dark figure in the room. "I thought I made it clear that I don't want him in my office."

Kyouya dropped the papers and ran to his mother's side, though she remained on the couch sipping her tea.

"He wants to be closer to you Yoshio, that's all." She placed the teacup in her lap and gently stroked the back of her son's head. "Kyou-chan, why don't you go find Fuyumi?"

With a curt nod the raven haired boy ran out the door, but instead of going to his sister, he remained in the hall watching his parents from the crack in the door.

"If you don't mind I have work to do." Yoshio's tone didn't offer room for dispute, but his wife didn't move from her seat.

"You know he doesn't mean any harm." She went back to nursing her tea.

Yoshio was at his desk sorting the papers his son had bunched together. "It's not about his intentions." He shook his head warily. "You allow him to do as he pleases. You need to have a better rein on him." His head shot up as his wife began to cough. "You need help, Tomoyo, I'm calling in a nanny for him."

"No!" Her heart fell from her chest. "Please, Yoshio, I can take care of him myself." She paused when she felt the tightness in her chest. She couldn't stop her body from forcing her to cough. '_Please not now._' She thought sadly. How could she get her point across if she couldn't talk to him?

"You see." He berated from his desk, a sad look touched his eyes but he quickly steeled his expression. "I told you that I didn't want you to have that baby. I told you that a fourth child would be too much for you, that you needed the treatments and that nine months would be too long to wait, but you're stubborn and now no amount of treatment can help you. Your selfishness hurts this whole family. Did you ever think about that; about how we'd be affected by your decisions, by your absence?" His voice was ice. "You sit there and tell me that your son wants to be closer to me, but I didn't want him. I was happy with the children I already had. I didn't need another child, I need my wife!"

Her coughing had ceased, but her breathing was strained. She wanted so badly to tell him that he was wrong. That her children were the best thing that ever happened to her and that Kyouya was her legacy. That if she died she could die content knowing that he cherished them, all four of them.

"I'll have a maid help you to your room. You need to rest." He stood from his desk making his way to her side and looked down at her, cupping the side of her face with his palm. "He needs a nanny, Tomoyo; he needs to stop depending on you because you're not always going to be here for him." He closed his eyes and whispered. "I know you want to give him all the time you have, but you're cutting your time short running after him."

Kyouya closed his eyes to try and block out the tears. He was the reason his mother was sick, and everyday he made her sicker by playing with her. He shook his head willing back the tears. He'd be better. He'd be just like father. He'd be a man, for mother, he didn't have to be a little boy anymore. Mother needed him to be a man now.

With that new fire of determination Kyouya took off to find his sister. He needed her help. She'd know how to help him be more grown up.

Yoshio bent down until he was on his knees with his head in his wife's lap. "I don't want to lose you, Tomoyo. You're all I have."

"I'll always be with you." Her words were so soft they barely reached him.

"But, he looks so much like you. Every time I see him I see your smile and it hurts knowing that he'll be such an obvious reminder of you once you're gone."

She could feel her skirt damping and knew her husband was crying. This man, this giant, reduced to tears over losing her. "Please love him, Yoshio. Please take care of my children because they are each a piece of me."

8888888888888888888888 Present Day 8888888888888888888888

Oddly enough it hadn't taken that much effort to get rid of the guys. '_What were they thinking?_' She thought miserably as she stared at the mess they left behind. After Hikaru had fallen, Kaoru had made such a big deal about a minor cut that Tamaki had started screaming that they needed to get the elder twin to an emergency room making Honey cry out that Hika-chan was dying. The only person with any semblance of composure was Mori, who tried valiantly to calm Honey down before he lifted Hikaru and walked out of the little apartment on route, she assumed, to a hospital somewhere.

'_Grown men…_' She thought bitterly. '_Put them together and they act like children again._'

With a deep sigh she took a quick glance at the clock on the stove and shook her head sadly. It was already half past six and she didn't have enough time to clean up the kitchen if she wanted to get to court on time.

Haruhi had never been a morning person, but she was a realist and reality dictated that people, especially driven people, had to get up early in the morning. It was a fact of life, but lately it was getting harder and harder to function so early in the morning.

'_Maybe I'm staying up too late at night?_' She questioned herself thoughtfully as she made her way through the bedroom adjacent to her own. '_But I've never had a problem keeping long hours before._' She reasoned as she pulled open the shades.

'_Maybe it's having to wake him up?_' She looked down at the sleeping form in front of her. '_How could he sleep through all that noise?_' She shook her head gently. '_Rich bastard._' He looked so handsome sleeping, but she knew the 'real' face that came from waking the corporate giant. The once Shadow King had retained his Low Blood Pressure Demon Lord title long past his high school years and still found it difficult to rise and impossible to shine this early in the morning.

On the first day she'd tried to wake him, she'd made the mistake of trying to do it gently, but after noticing that that took too long she'd adapted a new method. With very little concern to how she'd be received, she reached for his shoulder and pinched as hard as she could, twisting the already bruised skin when he didn't immediately wake up.

"Teme…" She hissed when he just rolled out of her grasp, still asleep. Reaching for the covers she turned them down until she could see the soft skin covering the side of his ribs just underneath the underarm. 'This'll wake him.'

"DAMN IT HARUHI!" Onyx eyes flashed a dangerous glare as he shot up in pain.

"You've got an hour to get ready." She ignored his outburst and had already started to walk away. "Don't fall back to sleep."

V – V – V – V – V – V – V – V – V – V - V

She could hear the banging on the other side of the door, but she chose to ignore it. Kyouya had always killed with his glares, or his silence, but on the other side of the bathroom door Haruhi was impervious to both. As a former Shadow King, he was a master of the silent revenge. He never needed to raise his voice in anger; there was no merit to it. However, everything he'd learned seemed to be lost when he dealt with her.

"I'm not kidding, Haruhi. It's been half an hour. I have to use the bathroom!" Kyouya's voice was almost a whisper under the heavy roar of the shower's jets, which told her he must be screaming on the other side of the door. He'd been like this every morning since the morning after she'd saved him from a jail cell and brought him to stay with her.

88888888888888888 8888888888 A Month Ago 88888888888888888888888888888

"You're not on house arrest, but it's pretty darn close." She shook her head pointing at the black box connected to the wall. "The tracking monitor gives you about two miles in any direction, but it's fickle, I wouldn't go too far. The good thing about it though, is that it beeps ten times before it alerts the police that you're out of the designated area."

She looked at Kyouya, who had been silent since she bailed him out of jail; he was looking around the apartment skeptically.

"This is one of the twins' apartments. They stay here for fashion week and such, but they said we could use it since the case is going to need at least a couple of months and we needed a place to stay." She tried to answer his unasked question.

"We could have stayed at one of the Ootori compounds." He finally spoke up as he inspected a lamp.

"Yeah, we could have if your father would have answered any of my calls or any of Tamaki's or anyone's. Even your sister was unreachable and I don't know where these "compounds" are. I needed to give the judge an address and this was the only one I knew off the top of my head, and it's not that far from the courthouse, so that's a bonus."

He nodded in understanding and walked out onto the balcony.

"I'll do my best to get this over as soon as possible. I'll get you back to your lap of luxury in no time." She assured nudging him gently in the side when she followed him out.

"It's not that." He watched the busy city move beneath him. "Thank you, Haruhi. Thank you for everything you're doing. I know you don't have to be here."

"Of course I have to be here." She glanced to the side, smiling when he finally looked over at her. "You're my friend."

8888888888888888888888888888 Eight Years Ago 88888888888888888888888888888

She was sure she locked her door when she left, but it could have been her roommate that left it open. Not thinking anything about it she readjusted the heavy bags in her hands and walked into the one bedroom apartment that she shared with this tarty little airhead from New Jersey.

"Surprise!"

She jumped at the sudden sound as arms pulled her close in every direction.

"Haruhi, we missed you." That was definitely the twins.

A face nuzzled to her cheek and she knew it was Tamaki and she assumed the tight embrace around her waist was Honey.

"What are you guys doing here?" She pushed gently at first, until she had to get more forceful. It wasn't until lithe hands grabbed under her arms and pulled her out of their grasp that she noticed Mori was also there. "Thank you Mori-senpai."

"Ah."

The twins waited behind the stoic giant for Haruhi to be deposited on her feet before pulling her into one of their "sandwich" hugs. Tamaki swatted at the twins, pulling at his beloved "daughter" for her attention. When she'd finally pulled of the redheads the tall blonde started explaining that just because she was in Boston that wouldn't keep them from celebrating her birthday.

He went on to rant about how Boston was no place for a beautiful lady to live on her own and that he was worried sick to know that she was all by herself. He went on jabbering about how he wished he could spend the rest of his life with her, to which he spun around with a light blush on his face saying that it had come out wrong and that he must have had a Freudian slip.

Haruhi, who was not in such a gracious mood, ignored his normally odd behavior and asked how long they planned on staying. That just earned her another long winded episode before Honey whispered that they were going to stay the weekend.

Once Tamaki had settled down, the 'Why do you live in such a small apartment?' questions started riling the twins up. They were up in arms saying that 'their' Haruhi couldn't live in such conditions as they toured the small one bedroom. They were so bothered that they completely disregarded all comments about her only living with a roommate because she was always studying and didn't need a bigger apartment since she was only going to be abroad for a year. It was funny seeing them try to find something to do in the small unit.

Honey took this time to pull on Haruhi's arm to get her attention. "Haru-chan, can we cut your cake now?" Together they turned to the table where she assumed the cake would be, but froze mid step when her heart dropped. She hadn't noticed Kyouya, but there he was sitting at the kitchen table, fingers probably blistering as he attacked each key with the fierceness of his typing speed.

"Hi, Senpai, I didn't notice you." She bit out, failing miserably at trying to sound nonchalant; she hadn't seen him since that night at the hospital. He hadn't even come to the graduation party she shared with the twins.

Without acknowledging she said anything a thin hand stopped typing only long enough to lift slightly… maybe that was a wave… probably not.

"He didn't want to come." Hikaru leaned over into her ear.

"Tono had to force him." Kaoru whispered into the other ear.

Haruhi just walked away and started putting her groceries away while Honey ate 'her' cake. "That's fine; he was always the most sensible of you guys. He probably thought that you guys would make a nuisance of yourselves." She spared him a side glance and noticed that he had momentarily stopped typing again. As if catching himself he started up again just as quickly. _'This is going to be the longest weekend of my life.'_

888888888888888888888888888 Back to Present Day 888888888888888888888888888

Haruhi sighed as the water warmed her very soul. She loved this shower, and maybe she stayed under the massaging waters too long, but each jet felt like it was aimed at a pressure point and it made all her stress just melt away.

"Fujioka! Open this door!"

'_God, Low Blood Pressure Demon Lord turns into Angry Whinny Seven Year Old when you don't give him what he wants.'_ She laughed at her own thoughts.

"Just hold it." She called out to the third Ootori son.

He banged on the door a couple more times before exasperatedly calling, "I've never had to 'hold it' my whole life, Haruhi. My suite alone had two washrooms back home. This godforsaken apartment only has one bathroom and I'd like to use it, so please get out."

"I'll be done in a minute." She called back wishing she'd woke him after her shower.

Kyouya was sick of talking. If she wanted to take hours in the shower that was fine, but leave the door open so people could at least use the restroom. That was 'one bathroom' etiquette.

Rummaging through her purse he found one of those cheap ballpoint pens she demanded on using and pulled out the ink stem.

"Make me wait will you." He mumbled as he pushed open the cheap bathroom lock. '_Idiot._' He berated whoever had installed such an antiquated and ineffective defense measure.

The bathroom was pretty basic. It was small, but probably twice the size of the bathrooms in most Manhattan apartments. When you walked in the first thing you saw was the sink and off to the left in its own little hiding corner was the toilet, to the right was the standing shower.

Without much thought to what he was actually doing, Kyouya looked over to the shower and felt his cheeks warm. The opaque feature on the shower doors hadn't been engaged and there stood Haruhi, all of her creamy smooth skin visible, only the droplets and the wet streaks from the water jets giving her cover as she washed the soap out of her hair. It took all of his will power to turn away, but he had already memorized every curve and the soft look of her wet body. It took a second, but forgetting about his own bathroom business he turned re-locked the door again and left.

88888888888888888888888888 Eight Years Ago 8888888888888888888888888888

The weekend went better and faster than she had anticipated. After a three hour argument that ended with her roommate having a fangirl moment that even irritated the twins, Haruhi agreed to spend the rest of the weekend at their hotel with them.

By Sunday night, Haruhi was slipping back into her old skin. She was still ready for them to leave, but she wasn't as putout as she assumed she would be.

Tamaki had demanded that they have some farewell cocktails that ended with the twins doing some late night skinny dipping in the hotel pool before security kicked them out. If it weren't for Haruhi, they would have been arrested because they decided that while they waited for the host club to come down and get them; making out in the nude was the cool thing to do in the security office.

As entertaining as it would have been for the customers back in high school, Boston wasn't ready for it yet. Haruhi sighed as she stood on the balcony, not really looking over the railing, just staring off into the night. It really was different without her friends around. They hadn't even left yet, and she could already imagine the nights seeming longer and the days seeming less… exciting. As much as she told herself that she didn't need them in her life, they had become an anchor for her, and she had to admit she did miss them.

She was so loss in thought that she didn't hear the glass door to the balcony slide open until there was a cupcake being held in front of her with a candle in the center. The cold February night wind licked at the flame threatening to blow it out. She followed the hand up to an arm, up to a shoulder, up to a face and quickly back to the railing. "Thank you, Senpai." She took the offered cupcake and blew out the candle.

"Did you make a wish?" Kyouya looked down with a bored expression.

Haruhi thought about it before answering with a simple, "Yes."

"You know Haruhi, I'm sorry about-"

"There's nothing that you need apologize for." Haruhi interrupted quickly. "That's what I wished for actually." She looked up at Kyouya's mildly shocked expression with a genuine smile. "I battled for a long time with whether or not I could forgive you, but then I realized that you didn't do anything wrong. You wanted to have sex with me, and I wanted to have sex with you." She eyed the cupcake, glad that she had it to hold instead of wringing her hands, before continuing. "You could have been a little less of a jerk when you asked me to leave, but it's not like you haven't always been a jerk. No offense."

She waited for him to say something and when he continued to look at her impassively she went on. "I didn't tell you I got pregnant because-" She paused thinking about it. "Well, honestly, because I didn't have to. It wasn't your girlfriend or anything, and I would have killed myself before I let you marry me to take responsibility for the child." She stopped fidgeting with the cupcake before putting it on the balcony ledge. "So, yeah." She let out a long dramatic sigh which let out a puff of frozen vapor from her lips. "You have nothing to apologize for. The person I was most mad at was myself, not you. I really needed to forgive myself before I could get over it."

"Forgive yourself?" Kyouya finally collected himself enough to show some semblance of listening.

Haruhi nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I needed to forgive myself for falling in love with you, because it was the stupidest thing I ever could have done." She picked up the cupcake and turned to go back inside. "Do you mind if I give this to Honey-sempai? I really don't like sweets all that much."

"Not at all, Haruhi, it's yours to do as you please." Kyouya didn't turn around; he just continued looking at the night sky.

"Thank you though," Haruhi stopped before opening the door, "it means a lot to me that you would offer such a 'common' gesture." She didn't wait for an answer, because none would come. She rejoined the drunken idiots that didn't even notice that she had gone missing. If anyone noticed that Kyouya spent the better part of the night on the balcony, no one mentioned it.

888888888888888888888888 Back to Present Day 888888888888888888888888888

The rest of the morning after that 'incident' had been rather strained. He'd always been aloof, the cool type, but without his laptop he only had the stupid daily newspaper, he knew the twins had delivered because the real newspaper didn't have three pages dedicated to comics, and his signature glasses to hide his glances behind. He couldn't look her in the eye, which surprisingly didn't go unnoticed. She kept looking over at him asking him if he was okay, but he wasn't and his assurances always seemed flat.

'_I'm not a kid anymore. She's not the first girl I've ever seen naked.'_ He berated himself, but then a thought hit him like lightning. '_Okay, so she was the first girl I saw naked, but she was definitely not that last and I've seen some wonderful naked bodies. Naked women with voluptuous bodies and all the right curves…'_ His mind trailed off as a sinking feeling, almost like a gentle burn, raked through his stomach. '_But none of them affected me the way that she does.'_

This was torture. Every time she reached for something in a cabinet and her blouse would pull out of her skirt ever so innocently or every time she leaned into her briefcase and her shirt would dip dangerously low showing off her black bra…

'_Stop!'_ He let out an exaggerated sigh and she looked up, her eyes blinking expectantly.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She questioned skeptically, as if she knew that he was going to deny everything.

"I'm fine; it's just that this day is already taking forever." He watched as she started packing her things and placed her coffee mug in the sink.

"Well, the restraints on your monitor should be off by now. I guess we can head out if you're ready."

The ride to the courthouse had been uneventful, but the silence hung over them like a dark rain cloud and she fidgeted with her legal pad to try and ignore it. Her phone vibrated in her pocket and he could see that she welcomed the distraction.

"Ken-san, did you find something?" She started scribbling little notes onto her pad and nodded every few minutes as if the guy on the line could see her.

Kyouya didn't know why, but he'd felt a twinge of jealousy when he'd heard that it was a guy calling, until he figured that it was about the case. '_I thought this was behind me._' He sighed and looked out the window to avoid staring at her which had become a bad habit since she'd come to see him to assign herself his lawyer. He shook his head at his reflection. '_You can't fall in love with her again._'

88888888888888888888888888 Twenty-One Years Ago 8888888888888888888888888

A few months after having been caught in his father's office, Kyouya never stepped back in that room again. His bedroom was eerily silent when Ootori Tomoyo walked in. Gone were the laughter and the smiles. She looked around the room and all of the toys that usually littered the floor were in the bin. All the "paintings" that hung on the walls filling the room with vibrant color and imagination were torn down; even the thumbtacks that once held them in place were missing.

"Kyou-chan, what's wrong?" She kneeled down next to her legacy, who sat at his desk practicing kanji writing.

He looked up at his mother with a blank expression that tore at her heart and made her want to cry. "Nothing, Okaa-sama." He looked back at his work continuing where he left off. "Fuyumi-nee-san gave me one of her workbooks so that I could practice writing. If I want to be a proper Ootori, I must be the best."

Tomoyo grabbed hold of her son and held him tight. "You don't have to be a proper Ootori, Kyou-chan. You just have to be yourself. I will always love you no matter what."

"But will Otou-san?" His façade wavered as his mask of indifference slipped ever so slightly from his inexperience in using it.

The question was so innocent that it shattered all of her defenses. Tears fell from her eyes and her chest burned and she knew that if she gave into the coughing now that the fit would never end and she had to answer him. Yet the burning was too much and the coughing won out over her determination, her arms falling from around him, hands covering her mouth.

"Kaa-san?" The fear in his voice carried over, pretense and apathy forgotten for the moment, and it made her tears fall all the more. When the coughing wouldn't stop, and it looked like she couldn't breathe, he leapt from his seat and ran for the first maid he could find.

By the time the paramedics came she had been coughing up blood and her lips were cyanotic from oxygen loss. Kyouya sat by his mother's side, his hands absently playing with the hem of her short sleeve until she was transferred onto a stretcher. He began to mount the ambulance after his mother had been secured until his father pulled him aside. "Where do you think you're going?" He asked callously of his young son.

"I was going to the hospital with Kaa-san." Kyouya honestly answered looking past his father, making sure that the ambulance didn't leave without him.

"I think you've done quite enough for today." Ootori Yoshio turned the child away and into Tachibana's hands. "Make sure you keep an eye on him." He absently demanded of the bodyguard who nodded and held the child to his side.

"I want to go with Kaa-san!" Kyouya tried to pull away from the young man's grasp when he saw the ambulance pull away, but his father was quick to throw him a heated glare.

"Stop that this instant!" Yoshio shook Kyouya by his shoulder so hard the small framed glasses fell from his face. "You would only be in the way." He stood upright smoothing out the invisible wrinkles in his suit mumbling under his breath. "Stupid boy, if it weren't for you we wouldn't be in this troublesome mess."

Kyouya hung his head in defeat. His father was right, it was his fault. _**He**_ was the reason his mother was dying.

8i8i8i8i8i8i8i8i8i8i8i8i8

As always thank you for reading and and please review...


	7. I Love Someone Else

Well, another chapter is ready to post and since I'm off today why not. I want to thank everyone who reviewed last chapter: (The list is longer this week *.*squeal*.*)

**lilsketcher617, E.M. Megs, KyouyaOotori17, Scherherazade, Kudos4U and MayContainRandomness**. I thank you all for making me smile.

BTW: This chapter and the next chapter go hand in hand because they were a really long chapter that had to be split because it was like 14 pages. The chapter is already loaded and will be posted on Wednesday. So yay, another two chapter week! Enjoy the chapter.

_**Last time on Defense Mechanism:**__**We found out that Haruhi and Kyouya are living together through the court case and Kyouya sees Haruhi naked, but she doesn't know.**_

- Chapter 7: I Love Someone Else-

Present Day 

Court was excruciatingly slow today. The prosecution called a few arbitrary witnesses. Haruhi didn't see what the point was in presenting them, but she couldn't object to them so she just listened intently.

Somewhere near four hours in she fought to stifle a yawn, which earned her a raised eyebrow from her client, who leaned forward and said "Tell me if they're boring you."

If anyone else had made the comment Haruhi would have died with a thick painted blush on her cheeks, but coming from Kyouya in that monotone sneer that he so often used she just shrugged. "We should be going to recess soon. One can only hope the prosecution rests after today." She whispered back leaning close to his ear. Yet, when she pulled away she noticed the slight blush on his cheeks and quirked her own brow. "Are you sure you're okay?" She whispered, this time not bothering to be too quiet.

"I'm fine. Pay attention." He spit rather coldly and Haruhi wondered what could incite such a drastic change.

'_Wasn't he the one that was just joking with me?'_

When McCoy took his seat the judge looked at Haruhi, who waved off the need to question the witness, before calling out for recess. Haruhi threw her head back with a loud sigh before throwing her things in her briefcase. She hated character witnesses. Who cares if the victim was nice? They're dead. Get to a point!

She noticed the District Attorney packing his things and walked over. "How much longer do you plan on dragging this McCoy? Prosecution should have rested yesterday if this is all you've got."

The older gentle man quirked an eyebrow and gave a glaring smirk that would have made Uchiha Sasuke proud. '_Haha Naruto reference.' _She mentally laughed at herself.

"I didn't know you were in such a hurry to give up, Ms. Fujioka. Remember, murder 2 is still on the table." He offered dryly.

Haruhi barely held back the laugh that tried to break free at the audacity of this man. "As if you have a case, McCoy. You're just back-peddling because you want to drag this on. I know the deal McCoy, I've done it myself, you forget I'm also a prosecutor. Keep the jury so swamped in prosecutorial notes that they tire long before they get to the defense scripts. There's one more thing you're forgetting though, my client is innocent and I've got the evidence to prove it." She tapped her finger on the desk angrily as if to press her point. "Stop wasting every ones time and present new evidence or rest already."

The moment would have been amazing and powerful if not for the sudden, "That's right!" "You tell 'em Haruhi!" shouts that suddenly filled the room. Everyone looked over to the noise to find the twins clapping at Haruhi's sudden power and Tamaki crying over Honey's shoulder muttering about how much his daughter had grown and how mildly scary she looked. Kyouya, who had made his way over to his former partners, looked oddly content using someone's mobile internet in place of his laptop.

"Fans of yours." McCoy playfully mocked.

"Actually," Haruhi started, he could he the challenge mixed in with her tone. "They're five of the wealthiest men in Japan, and they're all Mr. Ootori's best friends, and my clients."

McCoy's soft grin washed away and was replaced by a knowing scowl. He'd been beat by money before and it didn't help that this little lawyer in front of him was pretty good. He thought about the situation clearly. Maybe it would be better to rest his case and let her make her own; at least that way he could pick apart everything she thought was going to save her client. It was time to take a strong offense.

88888888888888888888888888888 Seven Years Ago 8888888888888888888888888888

It was hard, but the only female host had been able to hide, dodge and painstakingly avoid the host king. He came to her office and she would narrowly escape without being seen. It was getting embarrassing.

It wasn't until three weeks had gone by and she'd assumed that he'd given up, because he hadn't been around for a few days, that she'd let her guard down. She had been in court all day, thinking about nothing but the proceedings and he blindsided her.

Two strong arms shot out at her, flying around her shoulders and a heavy chest slammed into her knocking the wind from her lungs. The lead lawyer she'd been assisting, who had been standing next to her, looked on with interest.

"Haruhi, father has missed you so much. You're too busy; do you ever get any rest?" The blonde shamelessly nuzzled his cheek against hers.

"Get off me Senpai, I can't breathe." She pushed against his chest with everything she had, her face was turning a pretty little shade of periwinkle and still his hold continued.

"You're so mean." He swayed back and forth moving her side to side in his tight grip. "You never let daddy hug you."

"Senpai… let go…" she felt like she just might pass out. She glared at the lawyer she was assisting, who remained dissociated to the entire event. "I have pepper spray." It wasn't until she'd dug her slightly free arm into her purse and aimed the pink aerosol at the blonde that he finally let go.

Tamaki flew into a corner that was immediately covered in darkness. "If daughter doesn't love her father, then why do I love her so much?" He muttered to himself. It wasn't until security told him he wasn't allowed to wallow in corners in the court house that he stood and realized Haruhi had gone.

It would take another couple of weeks before he'd see her again, this time at Honey's birthday. The exchange had been brief.

"I love you."

"I'm sorry I love someone else."

It had been almost anticlimactic, until the drinking started. Now, when Tamaki drank he became his usually happy idiotic self, but tonight he turned into a depressed binger that sat in his dark corner with Nezakowa happily propped right next to him.

Haruhi had left soon after the exchange and missed most of the festivities, but when Kaoru had called her the next day and told her that Hikaru, Tamaki and a very late Ootori had gotten into a huge "party ending" fist fight she was glad she'd made her exit when she did.

She never got the rundown on how the argument started, but she assumed it was Hikaru poking at the already raw nerved 'king' and Kyouya had probably tried to intervene and got slugged in the process.

Present Day 

McCoy wasn't a pushover, by any means, but thinking like most good chess players do, he rested his case and let the defense take over because it was time to see what this little spit fire brought to the table.. Even though Haruhi had wanted to start her defense, she really didn't know where to start.

"Defense calls Andrew Abernathy." Haruhi called out. She had a witness list, not that she planned on calling all of them, or calling them in order, but as she scoured the notes Ken-san had helped her compile while on the ride to the court house she chose her starting point.

This wasn't her first case, but it might as well have been. She was taking deep breaths as she waited for the witness to take the stand and to be reminded of his oath. Mr. Abernathy had been called by the prosecution earlier. He was the head of Manhattan's Crime Scene Unit. He was the one responsible for the stacks of evidence sitting in Haruhi's "borrowed" cubicle.

"Mr. Abernathy, it was your team that took the crime scene photos and dusted for prints; is that correct?" Haruhi started when he'd settled down.

"Yes."

"Was there anything that seemed off in the room?" She walked over and leaned against the jury box as if this line of question meant nothing.

"Every crime scene is different." He looked at her as if it had been a stupid question before adding, "But it seemed normal enough to me."

Haruhi nodded and pulled out three pictures from her folder. "I'd like to reintroduce People's exhibit 17 already in evidence." She showed the picture to the judge and when she received the nod to continue she handed it to the witness. "Is this a picture of the scene?"

"Yes."

"Now Mr. Abernathy, you testified before that People's exhibit 17 was a photograph of blood, is that right?"

"Yes."

"Who's blood was it?"

"The blood belonged to Mrs. Takeda; the victim." He answered snottily.

"When inspecting the blood smear, were there any other fluids present?"

McCoy looked as if he were chomping at the bit. He wanted her to even mention the words DNA or semen, because he felt that it would blow the case wide open for him.

"Like what? It's blood. We tested the blood for type and it matched." The investigator seemed to be losing his patience.

"Well," she pointed to the picture again, "Dr. Warner, the medical examiner testified that the murder had to have occurred near 5 am, but wasn't found until 7 am; assuming that the police were notified as soon as the body was found; that blood would have been sitting there on the carpet for two and a half, maybe three hours."

The witness looked at her as if she'd grown an extra head. "So?"

Haruhi pointed that the picture again as if trying to get him to see something that only she could see. "The blood is bright red, Mr. Abernathy, what could make three hour old blood look as wet and bright as newly spilt blood?"

Silence. He racked his brain for an answer. He heard Haruhi saying his name, but he couldn't wipe away the look of sheer astonishment. It was a good question. It had never even occurred to him that the blood did look too fresh to be from the corpse in the room, but if that was the case... "I don't know of anything that could do that. Blood begins to coagulate as soon as it hits the air."

"So is this the victim's blood? Once the heart stops, is it still possible to draw oxygenated blood?" She asked dumbly, even though she knew the answer.

"We did the tests, they matched." He answered a little lost in thought. McCoy looked like he had swallowed a whole fish and it was swimming wildly in his stomach.

Haruhi walked back to her desk and pulled out another sheet of paper. "You tested for blood type, is that correct?" She asked over her shoulder.

"Yes, we always test for blood type when sorting out victims from perps." He defended.

"The report says that the blood type was AB negative, right?"

"Yes."

"How many people in New York City are AB negative, Mr. Abernathy?" Haruhi asked to which Mr. McCoy shot up to object. "Let me rephrase. In light of this information, and the color of the blood, could there possibly have been another AB negative person to bleed in the room?"

"The chances are-"

"But is there a possibility?" Haruhi interrupted.

"Yes. If the blood was fresh, as it appears to have been in the picture it is a possibility." Mr. Abernathy stated slowly as if he wished he had another choice.

Haruhi walked over to her desk as if she were going to sit down, when she paused and looked up at the young man in the witness box. "One more thing, how many sets of prints did you find in the room?"

"Just Mr. Ootori's and Mrs. Takeda's." He looked pale as if realization hit him hard.

"Isn't that odd for a hotel room? Especially such a high-end popular hotel." She looked at him knowingly.

"It's not odd for high-end hotels to make sure that the rooms are extremely clean for their clients." His mind was moving a mile a minute. He missed this too. He had been so excited about how this was an open and shut case that he complete looked over the basics. This was starting to look more suspicious with each question she asked.

"Mr. Abernathy, the body was found by the maid service was it not?"

"Yes, it was."

"And yet, her prints weren't in the room either, were they."

Silence. For the second time in the span of just a few minutes she had rendered him speechless. "No, her prints weren't present."

Haruhi nodded gently. "So, there was fresh blood in the room where someone had died hours before, and now someone wiped prints off after the maid reported the murder."

"There was no evidence to suggest that the scene had been tampered with." Abernathy defended.

"Yeah, except for the evidence that doesn't add up."

McCoy jumped up with another objection. Haruhi sighed before withdrawing. The damage had already been done. The crime scene was now negotiable.


	8. The Thermostat!

_Well, as promised here is chapter 8... thanks to Kudos4U and genkigeek for reviewing. Sweet!_

_ **Have a safe and Happy New Year. **_

_**Last time on Defense Mechanism: The defense rested and put the ball in Haruhi's court. After calling the CSU's chief Andrew Abernathy, she was able to compromise the crime scene and instill enough doubt to start making a solid defense.**_

_**

* * *

- Chapter 8: The Thermostat! -**_

* * *

88888888888888888888888888888 Present Day8888888888888888888888

The rest of the day went relatively the same. Haruhi called up a few of McCoy's witnesses and they all fell one by one. She was thankful to Ken for all of his help. When she had previously cross examined these witnesses she hadn't been as prepared as she felt now.

McCoy looked as pale as a ghost and his assistant was trying to settle him down. Haruhi didn't blame him, his entire case was going up in flames and he was powerless to stop it.

Haruhi had recalled the maid that found the body and asked the question that in her opinion shot McCoy's case to hell.

"When you entered the room, did you touch anything?"

The maid was a pretty little blonde thing with short hair in a ponytail and a cute little suit, a little too provocative for court in Haruhi's tastes. "Um… I guess so." She thought for a minute, Haruhi sighed; this girl wasn't the smartest blonde Haruhi had ever met either. "It was like really hot in the room, maybe like 90 degrees or sumthin, and hotel policy is like that we have to have the thermostat at around 75 degrees so that the customers aren't like too hot or sumthin." She nodded thoughtfully, as if she'd said something very smart.

That was it. Haruhi stared at the woman blankly. She knew she had touched things in the room. It was the testimony she was waiting for, but the thermostat! Everything started to fall together in her head. She felt like House when he made his biggest life saving discoveries at the end of the episode.

She thanked the maid and distractedly made her way to her desk, ignoring Kyouya's looks. She heard McCoy asking for a recess to prepare a cross for the witness, but she didn't care. She had to find those notes. Dr. Warner had said it the day before! If someone had changed the temperature, that would have changed the time of death.

"That was important wasn't it?" Haruhi jumped when Hikaru threw his arm over her shoulder. She hadn't even realized that session had ended for the day.

"We're taking you out for dinner!" Tamaki cheered, making Honey cheer as well.

"Haru-chan is such an amazing lawyer! Ne, Takashi?"

"Ah."

Haruhi collected her things when she looked around blankly. Someone was missing. "Where's Kaoru?"

Hikaru let out a long exaggerated sigh before waving off the concern. "Ara, he saw this cute court reporter girl when we were coming back from lunch and he ditched us." He pulled Haruhi closer to him as if saying that his brother's loss was his gain. "He'll call us when he gets bored."

"Okay, well let's hurry up and have dinner." Haruhi pushed away from the older twin and started walking away. "I have a lot of work to cover tonight."

888888888888888888888888 Nine Years Five Months Ago 88888888888888888888888

His hands burned up her sides and she didn't care that she was topless and straddling him. She ignored the voices in the back of her head that told her that this was wrong. She buried the emotions that cried out that she didn't love him. He loved her and that was enough. She just wanted to forget. Wipe Kyouya, the baby, the Host Club, everything out of her head and replace it all with someone else.

Hikaru had been her first choice, after all he had been the only guy she knew that loved her, but he had had such a vested interest in her. He didn't want a quick relationship. He wanted to eventually marry her.

It didn't take long for her to realize that dating one twin meant that she had to date them both. Regardless of the fact that they _tried_ to keep the relationship separate, Kaoru was always there because Hikaru didn't know how to live without his brother.

She loved them, she really did, but she wanted to forget Kyouya and he was as much a part of their lives as he was a part of hers. So that led her into _his_ arms, and what glorious arms they were. He was muscular, not that you could tell from underneath that blue blazer. He was gentle, not that the expression on his face would tell you. However, best to all that, he wanted her and that's all she needed.

"I thought you wanted to work on self defense." He panted pushing her off a little.

She giggled when she noticed the slight dust of pink on his cheeks. "I don't know what came over me." She leaned forward leaning her forehead on his. "Don't tell me that you didn't mean to touch my breast when you put me in that last hold."

The light dusting burned a little brighter and he was fully blushing much to his chagrin. "I was just trying to simulate someone grabbing you from behind. Most rapists are cowards. They'd never grab a girl where they could be seen by them. That's why you should say hello to suspicious people." Haruhi looked a little confused. "Pervs are less likely to try anything if they think you can identify them."

"Oh." Haruhi could tell that the moment had passed and her 'friend' wanted to get back to business. Begrudgingly she got back to her feet and extended a hand to him, but instead he handed her her shirt.

"Come on." He took her shoulders once she had buttoned up her shirt. He shook his hands as if trying to avoid ending up back on the floor. "If you have somebody attacking you from behind bend your knees and pull the guy's hands down with you, it'll throw them off balance." He wrapped his arms around Haruhi as if he wanted to restrain her and she dipped down.

"I didn't think that would work." She smiled looking satisfied that she was now free.

"Sometimes the simplest things are the most effective. You don't have to be a martial arts champ to defend yourself." He absently traced the side of her face. "Did you know that your voice is your fastest weapon? Screaming at someone who's trying to hurt you, even if it's just a quick yell, could give you the precious seconds you need to run away."

"Ahh!" Haruhi screamed playfully.

He shook his head, a grave look painting his face. "From here." He rested his hand on her stomach. "Scream with everything you've got. You're trying to shake him. Even if he's small, act like he's the biggest guy you've ever seen."

"AAHHHHH!" She tried again, this time seriously.

"Good." He smiled genuinely and scooped her into a warm embrace. "I still don't see why Honey-senpai or Mori-senpai couldn't teach you the basics."

Haruhi looked away guiltily. "Want to know a secret?" She played with the buttons of his uniform shirt. He leaned in lightheartedly as if she were really telling him something important. "I just asked so that I could spend some time with you."

"Silly Haruhi." He kissed the top of her head. "All you had to do was come over."

She let out a tender sigh and pulled him down for a deep kiss. "Where's the fun in that?" With a quick bend of the knees she was out of his grasp again and chuckling softly.

"I love you, Haruhi." He called out to her.

"I know you do, Ritsu." She called over her retreating shoulder.

88888888888888888888888888 Present Day Elsewhere 8888888888888888888888888

The courtroom let out for the day and the crowd of people there to view the proceedings all started on their way out. As soon as he was free from the main doors he started walking down the stairs toward public transit.

His sleek cell phone to his ear he waited for an answer. "Yeah, I don't know sir. This lawyer chick is pretty good, she asking all the right questions." There was chatter on the other end of the line. "Yeah, I don't know how she's doing it, but she's cracking all the evidence we planted." He nodded lightly and sighed quietly to himself. "You're right sir, she's a liability. I'll handle it." The phone was snapped shut and slipped into his pocket as he slipped into the subway.

88888888888888888888888888888 Seven Years Ago 8888888888888888888888888888

It was almost nine when Kyouya got out of his board meeting. Normally if he'd have to appear at a social gatherings this late he'd just skip it and send a gift with an apology, but it being Honey's birthday he made an exception.

When he'd made it to the Hanizouka residence Tamaki was sitting in a corner with a twin on each side. That looked like a volatile situation, so he passed unnoticed and made his way to the birthday boy.

Honey was chatting blissfully unaware of the explosive state of affairs on the other side of the room. Mori, who for once was not glued to his cousin's side, was no where to be seen.

"Kyou-chan!" Honey greeted as soon as he made eye contact. "I'm glad you could make it." He excused himself from the young women that had been keeping him company.

"I'm glad too. Where's Mori-senpai?"

Honey's cheery smile fell at the thought. "Tama-chan told Haru-chan that he loved her and she told him that she didn't feel the same way." He pouted, sighed and shrugged; never a good combination. "Kao-chan and Hika-chan have been poking at him since she left and I told Takashi to make sure that they don't get out of hand."

Kyouya nodded his understanding and Honey's smile returned. "Tama-chan had a lot to drink, and you're probably tired from such a long day…"

The lolita-shota didn't have to finish his thought. The shadow king knew where he was going and smirked. "Have I become so transparent?"

"No." The blonde waved off the idea. "I just know that you'd rather be on your laptop then eating cake."

"Well, thank you for inviting me."

"You are welcome to come over anytime and thank you for taking Tama-chan home before he has a chance to make a fool of himself."

Tamaki and the twins didn't wait for him to make his way to them before the shouts started. They had everyone's attention by the time he made his way back to that side of the room. Hikaru was yelling something about the blonde being stupid if he thought that Haruhi could ever love him. That earned him a punch that knocked him on his ass and Kaoru had run to his brother's aid. Mori, who had been hidden until now, held Tamaki back.

"Like she'd ever love either of you wretched devil twins. You had your chance and she couldn't stand you. Why can't you miserable doppelgangers see that I'd make her happy?"

Kyouya had heard enough. He nodded at Mori to tell him that he had it from here and took hold of the blonde's forearm. "Let's go Tamaki, you're making a scene."

"GET OFF OF ME YOU BASTARD!" The host king screamed, forcibly pulling his arm away from his best friend. "I asked you to talk to her and she avoids me for months. You're just as bad as those demons! You just want her for yourself!"

Kyouya couldn't hold back a snort. "I made my peace with that a while ago. If you guys want to fight over that commoner, be my guest." He hadn't seen Tamaki punch him, but he felt his glasses sliding off his face as the blunt force of the blonde's fist hit against his cheek.

Everyone watched speechless. It wasn't until he bent over to pick up his glasses that the whispers started. Honey ran over to hold 'the cool type' back while Mori took to restraining 'their lord' again.

Once the boys had been separated, Honey had gone out to apologize to his guests ending the party early. Somehow the night's events made him smile. It had been troublesome and he hadn't been able to eat as much cake as he'd wanted, but at least some headway had been made between the hosts and Haruhi. Maybe, everyone could come to terms with their feelings and start moving on.

Present Day

Haruhi looked at her watch and sighed. '_These idiots can't even catch a quick dinner.' _She thought bitterly. '_It's been four hours. I'll never get any work done like this_.' Ignoring all of the pleas for her to stay, she stood and started putting on her coat.

"No, Haru-chan stay! You haven't even had any cake." Honey called from behind a mountain of cake beside a bored looking Mori.

"Yeah Ha-ru-hi, we're not done celebrating." Hikaru smiled waving an empty wine glass.

Tamaki had his head on the table, a wine glass tipped on the table before him, and it looked like he'd had too much to drink again. Kyouya, who sat next to him, looked up at his little lawyer. "Heading back to the apartment?"

"Yeah." Haruhi picked up her briefcase and stole a strawberry off of Honey's cake. "I have to go freshen up and change before I head out to the office. I have a lot of evidence to sift through. I've only touched the tip of the iceberg and Kenpachi-san's not answering the phone."

"Kenpaashee?" Tamaki lifted his head groggily as he slurred. "No…ody toll me nutin bout a Kenpaashee. Kaa…san, not my da…" His head hit the table hard. "Nooooo!" He pushed his arm out as if he were throwing his fist in the air, but knocked over several other glasses.

Hikaru jumped out of his chair and threw his arm over her shoulder. "Haruhi, it's not like you to keep secrets." He squeezed her gently. "Is Kenpachi your new lover?"

Haruhi pushed him off violently. "My lovers are none of your business!"

"_Lover-sss_, Haruhi?" Kyouya's eyebrow lifted teasingly.

The only lady host's face blazed brightly. "Ugh! I hate you guys. Kenpachi is a medical examiner I know. I asked him to go over the evidence for me. I'm not sleeping with him."

"Okay okay." Hikaru nodded as if he were trying to placate her. "But," he hugged her so she couldn't get away, "who are these lovers that you were talking about?"

"Get off!" She pushed him away again. "I'm leaving." Without any other farewells, she made her way out of the restaurant and on to the street. She looked at her watch again. '_That didn't take as long as I thought it would.'_

The shower's jets were steaming up the bathroom as Haruhi set out another outfit on the bed. She heard the front door open and close, but thought nothing of it. "So they let you go early too, huh?"

When she didn't get an answer she shrugged and assumed he didn't deem the question worth answering. Ignoring her rude "roommate," Haruhi pushed in the button to lock the door and jumped in the shower, reveling in the warm water massage she was getting from the jets.

She could hear the door shake and smiled to herself. _'Hope you don't have to use the bathroom, Kyou-chan. I just got in.' _Chuckling lightly at her little joke she dipped her head in the main torrent to get ready to wash her hair.

She didn't notice the shower door open until her head hit the tiled wall. Instinctively she reached for her head only to have her hand caught in the plastic bag that was thrown over her head. Adrenaline coursed through her veins and told her to struggle. Her tiny frame fought against the strong arms of her assassin.

Panic wracked her body as the plastic clung to her face. If not for her misplaced hand, the hem of the bag would be choking her too.

'_If you have somebody attacking you from behind bend your knees and pull the guy's hands down with you, it'll throw them off balance.'_

Ignoring the searing pain in her lungs from lack of oxygen, Haruhi threw herself to the shower's floor and her attacker lost the grip on the now wet bag.

'_Your voice is your fastest weapon. Screaming at someone who's trying to hurt you, even if it's just a quick yell, could give you the precious seconds you need to run away.'_

She pulled the bag over her head and to the floor as she tried to let out the blood curdling scream she'd been taught all those years ago, but all that came out was a pained yelp. She reached for her throat and all she felt was tenderness.

Angry eyes looked down at terrified ones and it chilled her to the bone. He was blocking the shower door. He was pissed and blocking her only exit. In seconds he was on her again, this time lifting her body off the floor, choking the life out of her.

Her legs dangled helplessly as she clawed at his hands in the tiniest hope of getting free. The weight of her eyelids tripled and her arms lost their prior vigor. She felt herself slipping away. She couldn't even flinch when she heard the loud bang fill the room, all she could feel was the darkness as her naked body hit the wet shower floor.

.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.a.

please review.


	9. Would Be Hero

Hello, I hope everyone had a safe and happy new year. A new year means a new schedule and I was lucky to get an early Saturday schedule, but I got stiffed with Tuesday's off. It's too early in the week. I feel like it ruins my whole week.

Anyway, we had a really busy last chapter. I'd like to thank genkigeek, sadevotchka, KyouyaOotori17, shiroazchan, Kudos4U, E., MayContainRandomness and Scherherazade for reviewing.

I had to leave this as a cliffy. It was the only way the chapter works. Let me know what you think. TTFN...

_**Last time on Defense Mechanism: Haruhi started to make some headway in the trial, but someone's not too happy about it. After leaving a drunk set of Hosts, Haruhi found herself fighting for her life.**_

- Chapter 9: Would-Be-Hero -

88888888888888888888888 Present Day (Ten Minutes Ago) 8888888888888888888888

He couldn't keep his hands off of her. She was delicate, sensual and it felt like her creamy skin was just melting in his hands. She had made out with him the whole cab ride there and she was practically stripping in the elevator now.

'_I love these American girls, they're sooo easy._' Kaoru noted contentedly.

The elevator opened to their floor and she wrapped her legs around his waist as not to break contact. Using the muscles he didn't know he had, he stumbled down the hall. Propping her back against the wall to get his keys he noticed that the door was slightly ajar and broke off the kiss, earning him a discontented mewl.

Without concern for his potential lover, Kaoru dropped her to the floor and lifted his finger in a shushing motion. Cautiously, he pushed open the door and peered in. He could make the shower running, but not much else. He threw his phone at the irritated looking brunette glaring at him from the floor.

"Go up one flight and call the police." He whispered.

Now, noticing that this was a little more important than getting laid, she opened the phone and ran to the staircase. Once out of sight, Kaoru slowly made his way into the apartment making as little noise as he could. He reached the bookcase and pulled out _Crime and Punishment_. He inwardly groaned at his mother's cliché-ness. Tucked within the hollowed-out pages of the monster length novel was a small 22 caliber pistol.

Securing the handgun in his palm, he jumped when he heard the muffled sound of some things crashing and what he could only assume was Haruhi yell. The apartment was small by his standards, but when it came to running to Haruhi's rescue, he felt like he was running across the length of Japan.

When he reached the door he could see someone in the shower clad in black clothes holding something. He couldn't see Haruhi, but he could hear her. She was fighting for her life and instincts kicked in pulling his fingers tight against the trigger until his ears went deaf to sound, returning as a high pitched ringing.

The black figure had fallen to the ground, but was recovering quickly. When he stood, Kaoru could see Haruhi on the shower floor. She wasn't moving and his heart was pounding. '_Please, don't let her be dead.'_ His heart fell at the thought. He lifted the gun again, this time aiming it at the guys head.

He could hear the police sirens in the distance coming closer and smirked despite himself. _'Money does make the police move faster._' He stared the man down and noted that he was Japanese. What kind of Japanese guy is in New York killing Japanese lawyers during a court case involving one of the most prominent Japanese families?

"She better not die." Kaoru cocked the gun to show he was serious.

"I'm sorry for your friend, but I had too." The man in black held onto his shoulder, where Kaoru's first bullet had gone through.

"Who told you to kill her?" Kaoru didn't think his heart could beat any faster, but when he realized that this was a hit, it didn't matter if this guy failed, whoever wanted Haruhi dead wouldn't stop until she was.

"Tell her to drop the case and she'll be fine." Was his answer.

Haruhi shifted faintly and it caught the younger twin's attention. The clamor of police filling the apartment turned Kaoru's attention to the door. "This guy broke into my apartment." The would-be-hero called out to the officer, who made his way to the bathroom cautiously.

"Put the weapon down!" A jumpy looking police officer, no older than thirty, aimed his firearm anxiously at the just as nervous redhead. Without question, the gun was placed at his feet and Kaoru's hands went up.

Without pause the man in black took this distraction to pull out a blade and when he caught sight of the police office with his gun trained on him, he slit his own throat.

"NO!" Kaoru yelled and tried to run to the guy, but was restrained by the officer. "You don't understand he knows who hired him to kill Haruhi." His words fell on deaf ears, because the police officer was handcuffing him. "What are you doing? This is my apartment! That's my friend. I need to see if she's all right."

The officer just handed the redhead to another cop and made his way to the naked girl in the shower. He sighed; the tepid water that had pooled at the floor of the shower had kept her warm at least. Her pulse was thready and she had a bluish bruise already forming around her throat. Pulling a towel off the rack he scooped her up in his arms and transferred her to an awaiting paramedic team.

Kaoru, who had been explaining to a set of detectives what was going on, stopped short as he saw Haruhi being rolled by. She looked so fragile, so near death that he couldn't hold back the tears. It wasn't like him to cry, but the last time he saw her so frail was when she'd past out and almost bled to death back in high school. The thought made him nauseous.

When the police finally let him go he called the rest of the hosts so they could meet him at the hospital.

88888888888888888888888888 Elsewhere 8888888888888888888888888888

The door to a very expensive conference room flew open and a bespectacled glaring brown haired young man, in an expensive looking black suit, stood at the door with another younger looking red head standing beside him, in an open white button down shirt over a red fitted muscle shirt and blue jeans. Everyone in the boardroom collected their things and made their way out the door without a sound.

Closing the door behind them, it didn't take long for the rant to begin. "You said Fujioka wouldn't be a problem, but she's becoming a big freaking problem." The business man's voice was edgy and shaken, but cold as ice and it told of the elder's apprehension. He unconsciously began to pace in front of the ceiling to floor windows that lined the south wall running a hand through his hair and fidgeting with his glasses.

A soft chuckle escaped the other man's throat. He took a seat that hadn't been offered and leaned back as if the man's pacing were for his entertainment. "I told you to relax. She's not a problem. You do your job, I'll do mine."

"Well, you're not doing your freaking job because she's blowing through all of the evidence you planted." The panic in his voice betrayed the power he was trying to exude.

An exaggerated sigh escaped the younger man's lips. "Look, you had a problem and my dad told me to get rid of it for you. That's it. Even if Fujioka-san gets through all the evidence, all it does is free that jerk, Kyouya. It's not like there's any evidence to link the death to you."

The pacing stopped, but the incredulous look on the guys face was almost comical. "ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? If Kyouya is exonerated he'll take his place as president again. The only reason I told you to pin it on him was because I couldn't steal the money I owe your father if he's in the way!"

The other gentleman shrugged from his seat. "Not my problem. I don't give a crap about Kyouya either way, I never liked the guy, but the case on Takeda's death will go cold. There's no real evidence left." He stood to leave, but stopped at the door when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You're just going to walk away! I knew you were useless." He spat angrily. He folded his arms as if to say that he didn't need him anymore. "You don't have to worry about taking care of the girl, I already did."

The younger of the two blanched at that news. Discarding his nonchalant bemusement he grabbed the lapels of the elder's suit, rage filling his very being. "What did you do to Haruhi?" He demanded with a rough shake.

"I don't know how you do business, Kasanoda-san, but I don't leave loose ends." He tried to look passive, but the look in the redhead's eyes sent a chill down his spine. He'd had enough dealings with the yakuza to know not to get on this demon's bad side. Yet, now that he was here, now that he had been forced to depend on this future head of the 'family,' he let his pride or fear or maybe even stupidity get in the way.

He knew that this brat had been friends with the host club before, that's why he had been so adamant about having someone else help him. He knew that Fujioka was special or dare he say important to the redhead and it was clouding his better judgment. This kid was going to get him thrown in jail or worse killed. How could he trust a guy that was so indifferent about his problem?

'_Who wouldn't take matters into their own hands?'_ He thought miserably.

Ritsu's lips curved up into a mischievous smirk. "If she's dead…" He threw the bastard to the wall of glass with so much force the double enforced pane cracked. "…so help me Akira ... you're dead." With that he walked out of the office, pulled out his cell phone, and made his way to the elevators. "Tetsuya, go by where Haruhi's staying. I think she's in danger." He snapped the phone shut. _'I'm so sorry Haru-chan, please be okay.'_

888888888888888888888888888 With the Host Club 888888888888888888888888888

Four men ran into the hospital, Tamaki had passed out and slept on Mori's shoulders. Kyouya, who had been the least drunk of the five, ran up to the receptionist and requested the information on their little doe-eyed brunette.

The woman had been rather opposed to giving out the information until Kyouya had laid his host charms on her. Within moments he had Haruhi's location and the young lady's telephone number, which he promptly tossed in the trash as soon as he was out of sight.

According to the woman, Haruhi was still in the emergency room. There was a two visitor limit in the ER that would normally go disregarded by the hosts, but there was a burly security guard standing by the door to enforce it. The receptionist had given them an 8x10 ugly fuchsia laminated pass, stating that the other was already in use.

Kyouya flashed the monstrosity of a pass at the guard while the others sat on the uncomfortable plastic benches provided in the waiting room dejectedly. The emergency room seemed quieter than Kyouya thought it would be. He walked up to a nurse who directed him to Haruhi's placement.

Slipping behind the pulled curtain Kyouya's heart broke at the sight. Haruhi appeared to be resting, but the pained look on her face and the way she tossed back and forth told him it wasn't a pleasant sleep. He could see the bruise that spanned the width of her neck and his hands involuntarily clenched. He was glad the guy was dead; if he wasn't it would have been a countdown until he was.

Kaoru looked up from a chair by her side; the tears evident in his eyes. He got up and escorted his senior into the walkway. "She's stable and there shouldn't be any long term damage to her throat." He looked like he could burst any second. "I don't know what happened." His voice conveyed his grief. He told Kyouya everything that happened and as he finished it almost felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

There wasn't much he could say, but Kyouya placed a grateful hand on the youngest twin's shoulder and nodded. "Thank you, Kaoru, you saved her life."

The moment, as touching as it was, was ruined only moments later when two uniform clad officers walked up to the bespectacled raven and grabbed his arms tightly, handcuffing him. Kaoru had stood there mouth agape, shock stealing his words of protest, as he watched everything happen. Kyouya instinctively struggled with the two men, only to have then grip his arms tighter.

"You're under arrest." One of them spoke when the cuffs were secure.

"I haven't done anything wrong!" Kyouya glared daggers at the civil servants, wishing them severe bodily harm for having the audacity to do this right now.

The second officer didn't say a thing as he began to escort his prisoner away. It was the first officer that filled him in. Apparently in his panicked state he'd forgotten about his house arrest and he was definitely farther than two miles from the apartment. He cursed this night. It couldn't possibly get any worse.

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_As always thank you for reading... please review. BTW the next chapter is going to be a little longer than usual because again, I didn't know where to cut it off. Later_


	10. You Don't Know Me

_****__**I had some seriously mixed reviews to the last chapter and I think I wanted to answer a few questions and comments. First off, hello. Thank you for coming back.**_

_****__**I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed and I had several to favorite the story so that just tickles me pink. **_

_****__**MaycontainRandomness- I'm glad that things are starting to make sense to you. A lot of others didn't share your clarity. As far as Kasanoda being involved sometimes what you want to do and what you have to do aren't the same thing.**_

_****__**Shiroazchan- I'm glad you're liking where this is going. And hey, anytime. I'm glad you're here.**_

_****__**M.E. Megs- Things are just getting started. Nothing's haven't even hit the fan yet. I'm glad I can keep you on your toes.**_

_****__**Sherherazade- I absolutely loved your ideas and observations, but it's only a little close. This chapter tells you who Akira is. **_

_****__**MemoriesofDyingDays, FairyDemon26 and KyouyaOotori17- thanks for reviewing. I really love to hear from you guys.**_

_****__**AHHHH! I'm so excited to hear what you guys think of this chapter. I love to hear where you guys think this is going. You're all so great!**_

_****__****__****__**Last time on Defense Mechanism: Haruhi was attacked by a man in black and Kaoru saved her life. We found out that Kyouya is innocent because Ritsu Kasanoda was the one that planted all of the evidence. But who was Boss Nova working for?**_

- Chapter 10: You Don't Know Me -

Present Day

It was eight o'clock and McCoy's neck already hurt from looking back and forth between the gallery doors and the judge's chambers. Ms. Fujioka hadn't arrived and neither had her client, the judge was no where to be seen and the bailiff, who had been there to open the courtroom doors, had mysteriously disappeared as well.

The doors to the judge's chambers opened and a somber looking bailiff made his way out telling everyone to stand because the judge was entering. Everyone was on their feet and the judge walked up to her seat.

The room was buzzing with clatter, probably because the defense hadn't bothered to show up, but they silenced immediately when the gavel was struck.

"The court is granting an additional recess until Monday. We have received word that-"

The doors slammed open and Haruhi filled the room with a gracious apology for her lateness. Kyouya and the host club came clamoring in behind her, the latter practically falling over each other since Haruhi had run up the stairs leaving them behind.

The judge looked at the young attorney quizzically. "I received notice from a hospital that you were attacked last night." She began with a quirked eyebrow.

Haruhi pointed to the discolored bruise on her neck. "It wasn't life threatening, but I do apologize for being late, there was a misunderstanding about the tracking device. Mr. Ootori came to the hospital to see about my condition, it wasn't his intention to leave his designated area." She handed some paperwork to the bailiff to turn in for her and she returned to her station.

"She should be resting!" Tamaki yelled from the back and Haruhi shot him a death glare that had him shrink behind Mori for protection.

"Well," the judge read the against medical advise discharge papers and the arrest report, "if you're ready to proceed."

"Yes, Your Hon-" A 'psst' sound caught her attention and Haruhi turned and gasped to find a middle-aged man with black hair tied up in a hairstyle that can only be described as a side-ways Mohawk with bells attached to each spike. He wore a black polo under a white button down and a black eye patch. "Ken-san?" Haruhi almost fell back from surprise.

"Ms. Fujioka?" The judge inquired critically after such an odd response.

Haruhi jumped again, this time giving her full attention to the woman on the bench. "I am so sorry. I am ready to proceed, I promise, but can I have five minutes to recollect myself."

The judge was pissed at the request, but since she had anticipated having the day off instead of continuing the trial she hadn't made herself a cup of coffee, so she just put on her scary 'I'm mad at you face' and sighed. "You're trying this court's patience Ms. Fujioka, but the court will stand in recess for five minutes."

Haruhi spun around to the tall figure that loomed above her now. Kyouya, who had slipped in beside her looked at the man with muted interest. This man was old enough to be her father, but he looked older than Ranka. _'Ken? Wasn't this guy a colleague of hers in Japan?'_ He remembered the conversation at the restaurant._ 'What's he doing here?'_

The little brunette was bouncing around with the same questions. Kenpachi explained how he had found something so remarkable that he had to show her his findings in person. He handed her a folder as thick as a textbook and pointed out the important information. Haruhi's eyes widened and she smiled brightly for the report.

When the judge returned Haruhi called in her first witness. This was going to be a massacre.

888888888888888888888888888 Nine Years Ago 888888888888888888888888888

Her breath hitched in her throat as he played with her body. The feelings of him all around her, as she straddled his legs and his kisses alone, would have been enough to pull her over the edge, but when he abandoned the touches on her chest and replaced it with his mouth, only to use that free hand to massage the sensitive bundle of nerves between her legs, she couldn't hold on any longer. The heat of her orgasm pulled him to his release as well, her name escaping his lips in a breathy groan, and with a heavy mewl of her own, she fell onto his chest.

Panting lightly and placing soft kisses on his chest, Haruhi lay on him unabashedly. She waited until her breathing evened out before rolling off of his lithe body. He made a move to pull her to his slightly glistening body, but she blocked his arm and sat up turning to look at her spent lover with the slightest ghost of a smile on her face.

The room fell quiet as they watched each other, the silence quickly turning uncomfortable between them.

"You never call out my name."

The statement was unexpected and earned him an "Eh?" but he ignored it and elaborated for her benefit.

"When we make love, you never say my name. You never even look at me." He sat up and reached for her hand, but she slipped it out of his reach. "Haruhi, we've been together almost six months and every time you come here you always seem so eager to bed me, but when it's all said and done you always look like you regret it or something."

The little brunette remained silent as she ignored him and pulled a sheet around herself before making her way to the bathroom.

In all his naked glory he followed, watching her as she wet her face and cleaned up. "You can't ignore me, Haru; I want to know what's wrong."

"What do you want me to say, Ritsu?" She calmly continued to wash herself before slipping into the shower.

"I tell you I love you all the time, you've never said it to me, not once."

"We've been over this before. I don't love you."

He hung his head at her reply. "Does you bluntness know no bounds?" He leaned his body back against the cold tiles, resting his head in one of his pale hands.

"What do you want me to say?"

She could be so dense and so cold sometimes. He would have given her anything, but she wanted nothing and offered nothing for him. All he wanted was for her to reciprocate even a fraction of the feelings he had for her.

Silence fell between them again and she stepped out of the shower, taking the fluffy towel he offered. She reached over for one of the spare towels and dried her short brown hair before turning back to her lover.

"I like being with you, Ritsu, but if you need more than that, then you want more than I can give."

The words seemed to just flow effortlessly. She really didn't care. He'd shoot himself in the head of she asked him to and she couldn't care less about his feelings.

"This isn't going to work." He couldn't believe he heard himself say. He wanted her, needed her, even at the expense of his pride, but not if she'd never love him back.

"Fine." Just like that she walked back into his room and dressed. Ritsu stood anchored to the sink in the empty and cold bathroom, glaring at his mirrored image. He couldn't even watch her, something he'd loved doing in the past, because he knew that if he did he'd stop her. He'd tell her it was a mistake or that he was joking and that he'd change if that's what she needed, but why should he change? She was the one that was being unreasonable and deep down inside in the recesses of his mind behind the wall of denial that he'd built when this "relationship" started he knew she didn't want him to change, she ultimately just didn't want him.

He heard her offer an almost silent "bye" before she closed the door and her steps could be heard going down the stairs.

"Bye indeed."

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x Present Day .x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

McCoy looked like he would faint at any moment. Haruhi had called in the bartender that said that he had seen the victim leave with the defendant that night. She had called in the lead detective that said that he questioned personnel and retrieved tapes that put the victim with the defendant.

Then the shit hit the fan. She showed the security tapes again. The prosecution had played the tapes showing Kyouya going into the room with Ms. Takeda, but now Haruhi was playing the time stamped section that _should have_ showed the maid going in to do the turndown service.

He paled as he watched the empty hallway. He hadn't cared about the rest of the tape after the two went in. He knew they went in and the dead body in the bed told him that they never came out.

The room was filled with whispers again and the judge slammed the gavel a few times to get order. He had been savoring the win already and he could still get a conviction, but this… this offered a lot of doubt.

He was thankful that recess would be called soon when the little doe-eyed devil requested one more witness. Of course the judge complied, the woman would give the little 'angel' her kidney if she asked for it. McCoy almost blacked out when she called for him.

"Objection!" He yelled with venom on his tongue. "The prosecution can not be called to testify on its own case."

"True, Your Honor, but it is _highly_ irregular for the District Attorney, which is an elected position, to try cases. I believe that Mr. McCoy owes an explanation to this court on why he formally requested that the Assistant District Attorney take the backseat on this case."

The judge called for both counselors to appear in her chambers. Once the doors were shut she took her seat and the yelling began.

"She's making a mockery of this court!"

"There is no way that the evidence for this case could be so blatantly staged and he didn't know it."

"There was nothing that gave the impression that the evidence wasn't of lawful search and seizure."

"This is either a case of lazy police work or arrogance on the part of the Attorney's office."

The judge sighed. "You don't have to take the stand McCoy." She held up a hand to silence Haruhi, because her jaw had dropped to her feet. "But you do have to answer the question. After the lunch recess, I will have a stenographer come in and take your answer under oath for the record." She rubbed her face with both hands as if it had been a hard decision. "I'm curious as to why you're trying this case as well, but Ms. Fujioka, so help me God if you pull another stunt like this..." The judge trailed off with another sigh.

"There's nothing to worry about Your Honor, the defense should be resting before the end of the day." Haruhi sent a pointed look at McCoy, who glared at her with all the rage a born and bred New Yorker could muster.

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x Elsewhere .x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

"I need you to stop dicking me around Ootori." A young man sat in an expensive office. His suit just as designer as would be expected from his surroundings.

Yoshio rolled his eyes and continued to check his email as if he were alone in the room.

"You keep acting like you don't care, but I know you do. That kid of yours means everything to you and I don't give a rat's ass what you want to pretend." The visitor adjusted the glasses on his face as he leaned forward. "You keep playing around and I'll get bored of this game."

"Ootori's don't waste time playing games. When you came here the first time I told you that I wasn't going to interfere. When you came with the pictures saying that you were going to have him killed in his cell, I told you I didn't care." He glared ferociously at the young man sitting across from him. "You know nothing about my feelings. You don't know me as well as you think you do."

"I'm a reporter by trade Ootori, what I don't know I know I find out. I know you better than you know yourself."

"Get out of my office before I kick you out." The older man seethed without showing his rage on his face.

"Let's see, you set all three of your sons up with the same opportunity to buy out your company from under your feet. The test would show which of your children was ready to take over for you." He stood from his chair and absently removed a dagger that was displayed on the wall. "When your wife died you promised her that you would give all three an even chance to prove themselves, even though you were harder on Kyouya than you were on the other two because you didn't want him to be satisfied with being the third son."

Yoshio tried not to let his surprise show. He'd always been the villain to his son. He couldn't bring himself to see him without seeing his late wife and it broke his heart. At first he'd buried himself in his work and when he finally broke free of the depression he knew he had to get his kids ready for the real world. They couldn't be coddled; he wouldn't be around forever to hold their hands.

Kyouya had showed the most promise, even if he was the youngest. Tomoyo had been right, he just wanted to be like his father, but there wasn't any love left in his heart to reciprocate the emotion.

"I did promise my wife that I would give them a fair shot, but I never favored one over the other. Kyouya became my heir apparent because he worked the hardest. You're logic is faulty. He made his own way; I didn't pave a path for him."

"So are you trying to say that his life means nothing to you?" A quizzical brow was raised to his response.

"I'm not giving you a dime, Komatsuzawa-san." The older man pushed the button to his intercom. "You can let security in now. I'd like my guest seen out as roughly as possible."

Two burly men walked in, there black uniforms almost glared as sharply as they did. They each latched onto one of the mousey man's arms. "Please come with us." It was more of a command than a request, but they also didn't leave any room for argument. They escorted their "guest" from the office leaving the corporate head in the room alone.

He fished out the cell phone from his pocket and redialed that last number he'd called. He waited a minute before the other line answered. "He's getting desperate. Double the security on him." The line filled with assurances that everything would be okay, but he interrupted their babbling. "I don't want anything to happen to my son, but I have to keep up appearances, or there'll be a line a mile long of jerks like this kid that'll want to use him to get what they want. It's safer for him if everyone thinks I don't care." He sighed; this whole thing was getting out of hand, now he was telling his secret police about his feelings. "Just make sure that you keep him safe, but don't let anyone know you're there. New York is busy enough, blend in."

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x. Present Day .x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Recess for lunch was called and everyone filed out of the courtroom. Haruhi disappeared with the giant Japanese medical examiner to talk shop as they grabbed something to eat.

"Thanks for coming, Ken-san, you really didn't have to." Haruhi took a seat in the park across from the courthouse as she balanced a can of coke and a hotdog in one hand.

"Actually, I did. This victim isn't as innocent as they're making her out to be. Until two months ago she was one of the Mimasaka twins. Have you ever heard of the Mimasaka crime family." The older man sat next to her on the bench and pulled some sheets from the file.

"I thought the head of the family cleaned up their act?" She asked with a mouth full.

"He tried. It was a big deal a couple of years ago because he was one of the F4, but he was killed because some sleezy reporter named him as the snitch that got Takeda Ryu sent to jail. Turns out, it was all a set up, a case of mistaken identity. Two months ago the Mimasaka family traded one of the girl's to the Takeda's to try and smooth things over."

"Yeah, real smooth." The little brunette rolled her eyes at the stupidity of the rich, or maybe it was just the obnoxiousness.

"Anyway, I dug a little deeper, turns out Emu was dating some guy named Akira. Same name as her big brother. The guy is also a reporter or something. See where this is going?" He wiggled his brow at her. It wasn't meant to be funny, but it made her chuckle. "Anyway, she'd kept the relationship under wraps for a while, until Takeda got snapped."

"Oh, so everybody thought that it was ..." Haruhi covered her mouth.

"This girl's death is wrapped up in all of this and I'd bet my good eye she was tortured to get the info on who ratted out their family head. Her brother was killed and now she's followed him. It's just a matter of time before the other sister joins them, because it's obvious they're out for blood. I think she's already taken her siste's spot in the Takeda family, that would explain the prints."

Haruhi pulled out a picture of the twins. They were so beautiful, she couldn't understand how they could get involved with the yakuza. Yet, sometimes it didn't matter who you were, just what family you were born into. Everyone she knew was a testiment to that.

She sighed deeply, "I want to get justice for this girl, but I'm only here to get Kyouya off. I don't even know how he got wrapped up in all of this, but last night was definately a hit and someone's pissed that I'm getting close to proving his innocence."

"I'll help you. You just have to know that that friend of yours is either mixed in with some really shady deals, or he's got enemies that are."

Big brown eyes bore into a narrowed black one. "Problem is Ootori's have many enemies."

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

After lunch, Manhattan's District Attorney was called into the judges chambers to stand trail. He gave some half-assed reason for why he decided to try the Ootori case something along the lines of high profile and stretching out legal chops. Haruhi wanted to gag.

He denied any involvement with organized crime. He demanded that his records be examined if there were any doubts in his abilities. "If I haven't been swayed by public opinion before, then why would I start now?"

His little rant satisfied the judge, and when he was released he was seeing red. He was out for blood now. Secretly, that's exactly where Haruhi wanted him.

Once court was back in session the defense called another witness. Mr. Abernathy made his way back to the stand.

"I'm sorry to call you here for a third time, but you've already testified that your team retrieved the finger prints from the scene. Were you also the team responsible for identifying the prints?"

"Of course."

"I assume that when you received a hit using New York's print database you stopped."

The investigator nodded. "If we had our print, we didn't have a reason to keep looking."

Haruhi nodded and removed a report from Kenpachi's folder. "These are the prints you pulled from the system." She handed the report to the witness and handed a copy to the judge.

"The defense is making note of People's 19." The judge reported to the stenographer.

"Did you make your observation based on the presumption that the print had been a partial?"

"Yes, it was a partial and it was a match."

Haruhi turned to the jury and smiled. "When an investigator is identifying a fingerprint they base the match on the formation of the swirls and lines. An acceptable identification is established by how many points match. So, Mr. Abernathy, how many points did you match?"

"State minimum is five points, we matched to six."

"But isn't an ideal a match to twelve points?"

"Yeah, but we had the body. We were making an identification of a victim. Six is suitable."

Haruhi walk back to her desk and pulled a few sheets from her briefcase before walking back. She handed a sheet to McCoy, placed a paper on the witness stand and gave a copy to the judge. Then she rummaged through Ken's folder again pulling out a few sheets doing the same.

"Your Honor, I just received this information this afternoon and I would like to present Defense's exhibits 1 and 2." The judge nodded and she continued. "Now," she turned to the man on the bench, "you based your authorization on the assumption that the print was a partial. On the left you'll find a mug shot with prints of Takeda Emu. She's our 'victim.'" The brunette through up her air quotes. "On the right are the mug shot and prints for Mimasaka Memu. These prints were both retrieved from Japan's IAFIS."

Mr. Abernathy looked at the papers disinterested until the little spitfire pointed to the first sheet. "I know that you need time and equipment, but can you please humor us and take a good look at our victim's prints and the IAFIS prints."

A few seconds went by before realization hit the young man like a baseball bat to the gut. In the photos were identical faces. Both girls had distinguishing marks, but it wasn't hard to assume that they were twins. Now, Abernathy knew that twins had different prints, but they could easily share several matching points. The one major difference that shone through was the fact that Memu's thumb print was only a partial. It was a perfect match to the victim's.

"In your expert opinion, would you say that the ID might have gone a different way if you'd had this information?"

Abernathy could only stare wildly at the petite attorney. He didn't want to lie on the stand, but he also couldn't say that he'd made such a huge mistake. "If… if given this information…" He couldn't say it. "The police work was done correctly. There are very few instances where identical twins need to be identified, but if in _this case_ the Japanese IAFIS information were available the ID might have been different."

"So, given this information, would you say that the print on the glass in Mr. Ootori's room belonged to the victim?"

"Objection, he can't be asked to make that distinction without any equipment." McCoy stood from his chair and slammed his hands on the table. If ever he had to pray for the judge to side with him, this was the time.

"You have the same information in front of you, Councilor. The answer is obvious." The judge tried not to roll her eyes. She looked at the witness and nodded for him to continue.

"This information hasn't been verified." McCoy practically screamed.

"This information is legal documentation. If you can prove that it has been tampered with, or you find that it's false, I will personally see that Ms. Fujioka is imprisoned for fraud and have this case reopened negating double jeopardy."

McCoy couldn't do anything except sit down.

The investigator sighed deeply. "With the new information, I would say that the prints on the glass belong to Mimasaka Memu, but that doesn't change the fact that the victim is still Takeda Emu."

His declaration earned him a nod. "No, but it does show that Ms. Mimasaka was in the room the night of the murder, it also serves to show that it _**could have**_ _**been**_ Ms. Mimasaka that everyone saw Mr. Ootori with, not the victim Ms. Takeda." Haruhi proceeded to pull out another sheet of paper with a mug shot and prints. "I would like to introduce Defense's exhibit 3. Mimasaka Memu was arrested in Tokyo a week ago on the third." Haruhi walked back to her station.

"Mr. Abernathy, your report said that my client was seen leaving the bar with the victim, there were two glasses on the table in the living area that had the victim's prints and my client's prints, there was blood on the carpet that had the same blood type as the victim, and there were no other prints in the room, not even the housekeeper's."

"Is there a question in there?" McCoy called from his seat.

Haruhi just smirked. _'He's getting anxious.'_

"The question is… without a shadow of a doubt, can those same deductions be made with the new information?"

The CSU veteran hung his head. "No." He shifted himself so he could look the jury in the eye. "I wouldn't be able to come to those same conclusions now."

Haruhi rested her questioning and McCoy jumped from his seat as if it were on fire. "Does this new information prove that Mr. Ootori didn't kill the victim?"

"No. It doesn't prove that." Mr. Abernathy answered with a very serious look pointed at the jury.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

As always, please review and thank you for reading.


	11. I Can't Sleep

I feel like crap warmed over left in the microwave all night and fed to the alley cats because you don't want it to go to waste. I have been fighting this cold/flu for the last two weeks. Sorry no update. This weather has been crazy and the computer lab was closed because of snow and I couldn't load my chapter. I just wish winter would freak'n take a hike. I'm not meant for the cold.

Since I'm updating on my droid I can't guarantee spelling. I'm awful. I still want do give my shoutouts to those who reviewed: E., genkigeek, KyouyaOotori17, MayContainRandomness, sydneexx, MemoriesOfDyingDays, Scherherazade, lilsketcher617. Thanks for the motivation.

_**Last time on Defense Mechanism: Haruhi's friend and Japan's best Medical Examiner, Kenpachi, came to assist on the Ootori cas****e. The District Attorney was accused of having a hand in the corrupted evidence that has been plaguing the case thus far, and after receiving the new information from Ken and re-questioning the Crime Scene Unit's Mr. Andrew Abernathy, Haruhi realized that it was the victim's twin's prints in the crime scene. **_

- Chapter 11: I Can't Sleep -

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x. Present Day x.x.x.x.x.x.x

After Abernathy had been excused for the day Haruhi had wanted to call the Medical Examiner for questioning, but she hadn't appeared in court that day. That had been just fine with the little brunette, because it gave her much needed time to confer with her newly arrived secret weapon.

The hosts had been excitedly cheering their petite attorney until she informed them that she was not going out to dinner with them. Her words hadn't sunk in until she made her exit with Kenpachi in tow, the sounds of protest followed behind her quickly.

That was nine hours ago. Kenpachi's information would prove invaluable against the M.E. and that's why she had sent the evidence to him in the first place. He was a creepy looking guy, but his abilities for deduction and information gathering were scarier. He had only had a few hours before he hopped on a plane, but he had researched finger prints, did a background check and compiled a file for all of it before the plane landed.

She couldn't be more grateful for the help and the distraction, but once he dropped her off at the apartment a feeling of dread came over her. She had been fine all day, it hadn't even been in the farthest recesses of her mind, but now it sat there in the forefront staring her in the face poking at her motionless body.

She hadn't been able to shower; she figured she'd wait until Kyouya was awake. Sure she'd have to hear him complain about her taking too long, but right now she'd welcome the background noise.

Instead she changed into an oversized t-shirt and a thin pair of shorts and jumped into bed. It wasn't long before the tossing and turning had her up again sitting at the kitchen table staring at a glaringly bright laptop screen.

The nightmares kept plaguing her. It had been two hours since she'd last tried to sleep, but every time she closed her eyes she could feel his hands on her neck. She currently sat at the counter in the kitchen. Laptop forgotten, she sat sipping some tea and chuckled despite herself. The boys must have hired someone to come clean up their mess, because the kitchen was spotless.

This wasn't like her. She sighed for the millionth time tonight. She was tougher than this. She wasn't some frail little flower; she was a tree, sturdy and strong. So what if somebody tried to kill her? Stuff like that happened all the time. Some woman had tried to kill her mother once. Her father had told her the story. It was the reason they had gotten together in the first place.

So why? She laid her head on her folded arms and closed her eyes. It was no use. She couldn't stop her heart from beating out of her chest. She didn't want to do this, but she had to get some sleep, she had court in a few hours.

So swallowing her pride she knocked on the door opposite hers and slipped in when after a few minutes there hadn't been an answer. "Kyouya…?" She started hesitantly. "Kyouya, are you sleeping already?"

No answer. No answer was good. Kyouya slept like the dead and she could slide into his bed beside him, she'd wake up before he did, who didn't, and he'd never know the difference.

"Kyouya, I can't sleep, so I'm going to sleep with you, okay?" She tested the waters as she lifted the covers before tucking herself inside.

His scent overwhelmed her senses immediately and she knew that this was a bad idea. She'd never get any sleep like this either. Quietly she lifted the covers as not to wake the 'Low Blood Pressure Demon Lord,' but he had other ideas. Before she could slither out the way she came he turned over trapping her close to him. His arm snaked around her waist and pulled her flush against his bare chest.

Her cheeks flared up instantly. She hadn't been this close to Kyouya in ten some odd years. Gently she tried to fight his grasp, but all it did was tire her and she slowly succumbed to sleep. When her breathing had evened out the arm that held her brought her in tighter.

Kyouya snuggled into the side of her neck and inhaled her scent deeply. "I'm sorry I couldn't let you go Haruhi." He whispered and the slight twitch of her shoulder told him his breath tickled her. "I still love you."

8888888888888888888888888888 A Month Ago 88888888888888888888888888888

It was colder than he had anticipated when he went for a walk, but he ignored the chill as he sipped the awful cup of mud the corner café called coffee. He'd give anything for a cup of Haruhi's instant coffee right now. He watched as the people walking on the street passed by him completely unaware that he was soon to be on trial for murder. They continued down the street holding hands or pushing past him because he was moving too slow for a New York City street. Like most people they were only worried about their little pathetic lives. They didn't care that he had no idea how he got into this situati

He stopped at a red light and glanced across the street. A man stood with his son. He was holding his child's hand, protecting him from the dangers these streets were known for. He would have liked to say that it was a stupid American notion, fathers protecting sons, but he couldn't block the betrayal he'd felt at his father's absence in his time of need.

Kyouya knew the charges were unfounded. He had lawyers on retainer that could've had him back in Japan already, but when he called them they told him that they'd been reassigned. When he called his secretary the phone had been forwarded to his father's assistant who promptly told him that his father had frozen his assets and reaquired the president's seat.

When he attempted to contact the source he was sent straight to voicemail. That first night, when he'd been wrapped up in a fight that had nothing to do with him, he'd found himself at the lowest point he'd ever been. He hadn't just hit rock bottom, he was all alone there.

His thoughts traveled to the little firey brunette that was now somewhere in the city fighting to prove his innocence. She didn't care how he'd gotten where he was, her only concern was getting him back home. Maybe he wasn't so alone after all.

8888888888888888888888888888 Present Day 88888888888888888888888888

It was no secret to anyone that Kyouya was not a morning person, quite the contrary; anyone who was anyone knew it to be public knowledge. So when the room erupted in screams, he was a little less than happy.

"KYOU-KUN!"

He didn't even move until he felt a body fall on him. It didn't even register to him that this might be a problem, until the sheets shifted instantly and the warm body he'd been nestled closely to all night ripped herself from his grasp and sat up.

"Haruhi-chan?" The female's tone was almost silent as she took in the sight of the young attorney that had been sleeping with the younger raven.

"Ah, Fuyumi-san, it's not what it looks like."

The new scream that filled the room pulled everyone's attention to the other people in the room.

"HARUHI'S BEEN KIDNAPPED!"

Tamaki fisted the smooth materials of Hikaru's shirt before Kaoru was able to grab hold of his head and turn it to the tiny brunette that had just slid out of the bed.

"INCEST!" The blonde pointed accusingly in his obnoxiously loud voice.

"Yeah, Haruhi…" Hikaru turned to follow her as she brushed past them. He would have tried faking indifference, but he was just as shocked as the blonde and thoroughly pissed at seeing her act as if the whole thing had been nothing. "…why are you in bed with the demon?"

"Yeah, is there something going on that you want to tell us about?" Kaoru mimicked his brother as he too followed the brunette out the room only to stop in front of the closed bathroom door.

Haruhi rolled her eyes as she rested her back against the door. She'd calculated being able to wake up before Kyouya, but she'd completely forgotten about the others. She shook her head at her own stupidity. This was going to be a really long day. She doubted any of them were going to let it go.

Even now, she was hidden behind the bathroom door and she could hear Tamaki and the twins yelling at the Shadow King. _'Poor Kyouya,'_ Haruhi lamented. _'He hadn't even known that I got into the bed with him and now they're probably a step from attacking him.'_

_x.x.x.x.x.x.x Elsewhere x.x.x.x.x.x.x._

Tetsuya sat alone in a car a few blocks away from the twins' New York apartment. He'd been waiting for a call from his boss. Kasanoda had been beside himself with anger when he'd heard about what had happened to Haruhi. Since then he'd had the blonde tailing the little attorney just in case that tight assed "partner" of his tried anything else stupid.

The phone vibrated on the dash and he was quick to answer. "Yeah."

"Anything?"

"The hosts just got here with Ootori's sister, but it was quiet all night. The same cops kept circling the building and going in and out. I didn't think they were real NYPD, so I ran the liscense plate. The tags didn't match the car, so I called 911. They didn't come around again."

"Good, you can go then, Mori-sempai won't let anything happen to her."

The conversation was short and to the point. He dropped his phone next to him and started up the car. He'd have to get some sleep before staking out the apartment again tonight.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x Elsewhere x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

McCoy had just reached the office when his cell phone rang. He didn't even have to answer before a scared female voice came over the line. "Jack?"

His eyes widened as he recognized the voice on the other end. "Sabrina, where are you?" Now, McCoy had been an asshole most of his life and that had led to a string of failed relationships, but thankfully no children. However, he had had one relationship that had trumped all others and if he'd believed in love he might have married her. She had been his assistant at one time, but it wasn't until she became his colleague that the relationship got physical. Sabrina had always been brash and opinionated, and truthfully that was what he loved about her, but she was just as ambitious as he was and sitting second chair forever was not her dream, so when an ADA position opened up in California she took it.

When they'd said goodbye and she had boarded that plane, almost four years ago, that had been the last he'd heard from her. Before a few months ago, when these calls first started, he had put that chapter of his life away and looked on to new fruitless relationships, but now that she'd been dropped back into his life he couldn't help but be concerned.

Almost instantly a male voice came over the line. "I hear you're having trouble closing the Ootori case."

"You said it was going to be open and shut. You said the evidence was flawless, but here we are facing nothing but flaws." He spat back with venom in his tone.

"I thought you were the best, New York's great Jack McCoy!" The man on the other line seemed to have found some humor in all this one second, but his voice became deathly serious the other. "You're up against one of Tokyo's best and she's got help. That creepy looking old guy she's been talking with was one of the best CSI men in Japan before he got bored and started slicing up the dead for a living. He's sharp, like Sherlock Holmes or something. You're going to have to shut her up, or Sabrina is not going to be happy you lost this case."

"What the hell do you want me to do?" McCoy's anger was bubbling over the surface. "Short of killing her, how am I supposed to shut her up? She's got the floor. She's chopping holes in everything we've set up and she's got the judge eating out of the palm of her hand!" He yelled into his phone, he didn't even care that a few people in the office had come to see what he was screaming about and now he had quite a bit of an audience.

"Not my problem. I gave you the perfect case. I even made sure that legal aide would send their least successful lawyer to be his attorney. You're the one that let it get out of your grasp. Now, it's up to you to get a hold of it, for Sabrina's sake."

"You son of a-"

"If I gave a crap what you thought, McCoy I'd be hurt, but since I don't, just freaking win the case." With that he hung up leaving the silver-haired DA gripping his phone tightly wishing it was that bastard's neck.

a.n..a.n...a.n...a.n...a.n...

Yay! It only lasted a second, and if you blinked you missed it, but a happy kyou/haru scene.


	12. Checkmate

_Hello everyone! I'm not your daddy, I'm your grandpa. _

This week has been pretty busy. I'm feeling better, but my lungs are still very congested, but I don't wish for death anymore so yay!

Shoutouts to: E., Kudos4U, shiroazchan, they-call-me-Squire, and missmidgetelmo. Thanks Guys. Also, to shiroazchan, I hope you enjoyed your vacation.

**_Last time on Defense Mechanism: Haruhi couldn't sleep because of the nightmares of being attacked so she got in bed with Kyouya, only to be found in the morning by the host club and Fuyumi. Kasanoda has Tetsuya following Haruhi to keep her safe and we found out that McCoy knew the case was a set up before he took it, but has to win or they'll kill one of his ex-girlfriends._**

- Chapter 12: Checkmate -

z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z Present Day z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z

Dark rain clouds blanketed the New York City skyline and Tamaki looked at them miserably. "It's supposed to rain today with isolated thunderstorms." He reported to no one in general, but everyone's eyes turned to Haruhi.

"I'll be fine." She looked out her window at the clouds too. She'd grown up a lot in the last couple of years and even though she still hated thunderstorms, she wasn't as terrified by them anymore, but they still distracted her terribly. Once she'd had the bad luck to be presenting a case when a storm raged right outside the courtroom windows. She had almost jumped out of her own skin when a stray lightning bolt hit one of the trees letting out an unnaturally loud roar as thunder instantly followed, gripping her in panic as the shattered pieces of the tree blew out one of the windows.

That had been like one of her worse nightmares come true. She'd been a mess after that and completely unable to continue and that in itself was unacceptable by Haruhi's standards. After that she'd resigned herself to change, forcing herself to face her fears head on. It was almost impossible at first, but with every storm she'd gotten stronger.

"What's wrong?" Fuyumi's expression couldn't hide her confusion. "Do you not like the rain, Haruhi-chan?"

The question caught everyone as odd until they realized that Kyouya's sister wouldn't know of Haruhi's astraphobia. Kyouya went to answer but was cut off by the little brunette's blunt "no," followed by a question that hadn't dawned on anyone else. "Fuyumi-san, where have you been? I tried calling you several times when we had to get Kyouya out of jail."

The female raven's face burned with a bright blush. "Sorry." She turned to hold her brother's hands tightly as if begging for forgiveness. "I asked father a few times where you'd gone and he just told me that you were in New York and when I tried calling you I told him that I couldn't get in contact with you and he said to mind my business because you were attending to business matters and I had a husband to look after and I couldn't be entertaining myself with my little brother's life." She said very animatedly in one breath.

"It's okay Fuyumi-nee-chan."

"I never imagined that it could be something like this. I was beside myself with worry just thinking about if you were eating or if you were working yourself too hard and that's why you'd never answer my calls."

"It's okay Nee-chan. I'm just fine."

"You're not fine." Fuyumi and Tamaki both wailed out at the same time. If it wasn't for the female Ootori's long black hair and black eyes that matched the rest of the family, everyone would think that she was the blonde's sister.

"Haruhi's going to keep me out of jail, so I'll be fine." The raven looked up at his friends, each of them looking at him quizzically.

Hikaru was the first to say something with an eyebrow quirked suspiciously. "That's another thing." He demanded. "Since when are you and Haruhi so familiar?"

That started another loud debate and when they reached the courthouse they practically spilled out of the limo still fighting. Haruhi, Honey and Mori were the only ones not phased by the argument and quickly made their way up the stairs to find Kenpachi by the doors.

"Where're the rest of your friends?" He looked at the three that had made it through security without making a scene.

"The twins and Tama-chan are mad because Haru-chan slept with Kyou-chan and Fuyumi-chan is upset that she didn't know that Kyou-chan was in jail." Honey offered as way of explanation.

"You slept with your client?" Kenpachi raised his exposed eyebrow playfully.

Haruhi blushed under his one-eyed gaze. "It wasn't like that. I didn't have sex with him." She explained in a raised whisper. "I kept dreaming that I was being attacked again and I got in bed with him so I wouldn't be alone." She brushed past the larger man and purposefully hit his side with her shoulder before turning back and walking back up to him so she could continue in her hushed tone, "**_and _**he's not just a client, he's my friend and if I want to sleep with a friend so I don't feel so alone I can when I want to."

When Kenpachi raised his eyebrow again she blushed at the insinuation that could be drawn from such a statement. "Argh! I hate you." She threw her hands up in exasperation just in time to see the rest of her group join them. She walked away from them with Kenpachi right behind her telling her that as a "friend" he'd be happy to make sure she never felt alone again.

Hikaru looked confused and Kaoru mirrored his expression. "What was that about?" They chorused in unison.

Honey looked at them with a bright smile and announced. "Haru-chan said that she can sleep with Kyou-chan whenever she wants because they're friends."

That left Kyouya looking a bit smug as he and his sister walked off into the courtroom, but left Tamaki and the twins seeing red again. "Like hell she can!"

"Maybe I should have worded that differently." Honey looked up at his stoic cousin an expression of sheer innocence.

"Ah."

"I can't believe that after all these years they're still so much fun to play with." Honey shrugged as a huge smile played at his lips.

Mori had to smile o. "Ah."

z.z.z.z..z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.

McCoy was at his wits end. This case was practically over and there was nothing he could do about it. He sat staring at the empty witness chair. In a few minutes the medical examiner would be sitting in it and he knew he'd be seconds from an acquittal. The jury was full of doubt and his rock hard evidence had melted into circumstantial mush. He didn't bother to look up when he caught Haruhi slide into her seat from the corner of his eye.

He'd won and lost a lot of cases in his career. He'd faced off against defense lawyers that were nothing more than sewer trash, but this one little girl, this slip of a woman, had filled him with so much rage he thought he'd launch himself at her throat. If Sabrina was killed it would be all her fault. It's not that he was still in love with her. It's not that he felt he owed her anything more than the right to live. He knew he should have gone to the police the second he got the call, but he didn't and reporting it now could mean his disbarment.

He had to come up with something or he'd have Sabrina's blood on his hands too. As the judge walked into the room a steely bitter determination took hold in his stomach. He was Jack McCoy damn it. He'd forgotten more about the law than this "judicial toddler" ever knew. When he'd **had** to win before he always did, and right now he **had** to win.

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Dr. Warner was called in to testify again and this time Haruhi was prepared to slaughter her testimony. The little brunette was out for blood after such an embarrassing morning and she was uncharacteristically vicious when she needed to clear her head.

Seconds after she'd been reminded of her oath the attack began. "Dr. Warner, your office was provided with new evidence yesterday, because we heard from the maid that found the body that the room was found at a considerably higher temperature then when you first arrived, but we'll touch base with that in a second. The defense presents People's 32, 33 and 34." Haruhi walked over to the judge with pictures in her hands, she handed them to the tall blonde who handed them to the examiner. "Are these the autopsy pictures you took?"

"Yes." She scanned the photographs in her hand before looking back up to the brunette.

"If you would, did you find anything peculiar with the body?" Haruhi inquired knowingly.

"When we examined the body there weren't any abnormalities or anomalies, no." She'd heard from Abernathy that this attorney could get pretty nasty, and all the hard work and extra hours he'd put into this case were burned up in smoke in just a few minutes. She didn't want to be facing the same insecure looks that her colleague was now facing.

"Doctor, People's 32 is a picture of what?"

"The victim's stomach."

"Were there any abnormalities there?"

"No, I just told you we didn't find any abnormalities."

"Then what's the People's 33 a picture of?"

"The lining of the inside of the stomach." She was getting annoyed with this line of questioning. It was clearly labeled what the pictures were.

"Doctor, are there normally white spots on the stomach's lining?"

"What?" The question struck her as odd. "White spots could mean a number of things; it depends on the size, shape, and severity."

Haruhi walked over to the wall beside the judge's quarters and the bailiff handed her an enlarged picture of People's 33. "What about these spots, Dr. Warner? This is a blown up copy of the photograph in your hand, enlarged for easier viewing. Can you see the spots now?" She leaned the oversized poster board on an offered easel.

"Objection, argumentative." McCoy shot up from his chair after having stared away most of the exchange.

"Over ruled." The judge practically rolled her eyes, which did not go unnoticed by the district attorney.

"There was no reason to examine the tissue lining of the stomach. This wasn't a poisoning case. There were no signs of blood in the esophagus or any GI tearing. No medical examiner in the world would have looked for spots in the stomach."

"One medical examiner did, but that is neither here nor there, I just want to know what these spots are." Haruhi demanded.

"I've only seen those spots in cases of extreme torture. Some countries don't use direct physical stimuli to get what they want. They use indirect methods, like forcing someone to sit in extremely cold conditions: a freezer naked or sitting in ice water, to then deposit them in an extremely hot condition: a sauna or under a heat lamp. It causes the lining of the stomach to contract and expand, like a pothole, but this isn't a torture victim. She was a wealthy Japanese socialite-"

"With ties to the yakuza." Haruhi interrupted, but withdrew when she saw McCoy shoot out of his chair. "Her lifestyle is not what's on trial here." The little brunette deflected. "When you originally testified, you said that the body was covered in water. You said that it looked as if she'd been washed. In light of this evidence, could that water have been condensation from defrosting?"

"What? No, it would take hours to defrost a body and there would be other signs that the body had been frozen." She was floored by the logic being presented.

"You testified that the victim died from sodium pentothal poisoning, which can also be administered as a type of truth serum in low doses. You also testified that you didn't find a needle mark, but that they can shrink in cases of extreme cold, and just now you said that these spots can be caused by a body that has been chilled to the point of freezing and defrosted repeatedly. If a body is chilled to a semi-frozen state and defrosted, can it alter or even fool a time-of-death test?"

"What you're asking, no suggesting is highly improbable?" The M.E. rubbed at the bridge of her nose agitatedly.

"I'm not asking you to give me the statistics of how often it happens, just could it have happened?"

"If the room was hot enough before the body was found and it hadn't been completely frozen to begin with." She started tiredly, almost dejectedly because she didn't want to admit it. _'This must be what Abernathy felt like.'_ She thought miserably. "With this evidence, I would say that it is possible. Improbable, but possible."

"Given this hypothetical situation, what would the time of death then be?" Haruhi felt like she was jumping on the balls of her feet.

"It'd be almost impossible to say. It all would depend on how long she'd been frozen and at what temperature she'd been kept. She could have been dead for weeks, but the body would have had to be very well taken care of to make sure that there were no other signs of freezing." She looked over at the jury as if to dispel the theory from their minds.

"Your Honor," Haruhi turned to the judge, "in light of this new testimony-"

"Objection, the prosecution has not had a chance to redirect." McCoy slammed his hands on the table shocking his assistant in the second chair.

"You can't be serious McCoy!" Haruhi turned with an incredulous look gracing her simple features. "There's no way my client could have killed the victim."

"That's just one of many theories that can be offered, your Honor." McCoy continued ignoring that Japanese attorney. "You can't request a dismissal on hypothetical situations."

"Order." The judge slammed her gavel to get quiet as the little spat between the lawyers had gotten everyone else in the courtroom riled up. "There are no grounds for a dismissal, Ms. Fujioka; you're going to have to see this all the way through."

Haruhi's eyes narrowed as she turned to McCoy with irritation lacing her tone. "Your witness."

McCoy stood and adjusted his suit. "Dr. Warner, have you ever seen a case where someone was frozen as delicately as the defense would like us to think is possible?"

"No." She shook her head as if it had been a brilliant question. "Never."

"But you have seen murderers try to cover their tracks, like washing a body to hide any evidence that might prove they killed the victim. That better explains the water on the body, right?"

"Objection, leading the witness." Haruhi had a sinking feeling in her stomach. McCoy was a proud man, maybe proud enough to use ugly tactics. She hoped he wasn't doing what she thought he was doing.

"Sustained." The judge raised an eyebrow; she'd been in court many times with the prosecutor before he became District Attorney. She knew he played dirty, his track and disciplinary records spoke for themselves. He wasn't afraid to go to jail for a cause, she just hoped he wasn't trying to force her hand, until she heard the words come out of his mouth. She never thought she'd be so disappointed in a colleague before, but as she heard him ask the examiner if since the semen found on the body matched the DNA of the defendant could rape have been a motivating factor in her murder.

It was as if everything stood still at that moment. The defense shot up from her seat red with fury screaming that she demanded double jeopardy be attached. McCoy almost looked smug as he waited for the bailiff to escort him to jail. The jury looked confused as if they didn't know what was going on.

However, she knew. McCoy had chosen a mistrial over an acquittal, that way he could try again later. The media buzz would have died down by then and the defendant would be branded by that point guilty until proven innocent, which his lawyer had done a good job of doing. All of it would start from square one, and the worse part would be that it could take years for another trial, which could hurt or help the defense, since memories get fuzzy with time and evidence gets "lost" in wait.

With an apparent sadness in her eyes she called the bailiff to arrest Jack McCoy in contempt of court before turning to the jury. "By the stipulations set forth at the beginning of this trial I have no other recourse but to declare this case a mistrial. I thank you for your service, but you are all dismissed."

Kyouya looked over at Haruhi who slammed her fist onto the table repeatedly. He didn't have to voice anything because Hikaru practically flew over the divider. "What happened? Did you win?"

"No!" Haruhi was angrier than any of her friends had ever seen her. "That jerk knew if he brought up DNA the judge would declare a mistrial and he didn't want to lose, so he did it on purpose."

"So!" Hikaru didn't understand what was going on, wasn't this a good thing?

"It means we're going to have to go through all of this again." Kyouya shook his head in understanding and all of his friends blanched. "It means that technically I'm still labeled a murderer."

When the jury had filed out of the room the judge had the bailiff hold McCoy still for sentencing. "Today was the most blatant misuse of the law that I've ever seen in my life. To see such a seasoned veteran of the judicial system purposely step on a landmine to postpone a case is disgusting to me. Since your position is elected, you work for the people, but please be advised that I will seek a review of this case by the bar and request that they make an inquiry into your actions."

McCoy didn't care. Technically, he hadn't won or loss the case, so Sabrina was safe. The bailiff made the motion to pull him away, but was stopped when the judge continued. "Mr. Ootori, please stand." Both Haruhi and Kyouya stood at the request. "Before this trail began the defendant was promised a fair trail by his peers. I feel that you, Mr. McCoy, made that impossible today. I also feel that the doubt that was laid into every shred of evidence gives me the authority to dismiss this case for lack there of. Mr. Ootori, you are free to go with the courts apologies."

The room erupted in cheers. The Host club, who had been as quiet as the dead while the judge offered her deliberations, couldn't be contained as they congratulated their friends. Kyouya's body acted on its own, and he hugged the brunette tightly, which was not appreciated by Tamaki or the twins who pretended they wanted to hug their friend and that was the reason they had to pull them apart.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

"McCoy loss the case, Boss. What do I do with the girl?" A haggard looking blonde sat at his feet, her hands and legs bound with duct tape, her once expensive suit ruined.

"What use do I have for her now? You've kept her drugged the whole time she was here, right? If you're sure she won't remember anything, drop her off somewhere. If you think she will kill her." With that he walked out of the room. He was pissed. He'd done everything he knew how to do. He'd messed up so badly by printing that story about Takeda, and now Emu was dead and her brother and it was just a matter of time until that family realized he was the one that was responsible.

He hadn't meant for any of this to happen. He was just a simple man, when people thought Komatsuzawa Akira, they didn't think yakuza. His first mistake was falling for the little yakuza princess. He knew he wasn't the type of guy that could let the opportunity for a scoop go. That's why he'd had to run to the Kasanoda family for protection. They had so much bad blood with the Mimasaka's that they'd actually help him. He just hadn't thought that it would come at such a high price. He loved Emu, but when they killed her trying to milk her for information, he'd lost his only bargaining chip, and now he had a bill over his head like a boulder and his family's printing company would fold trying to cover it.

The Ootori's, however, they had it in spades. He'd initially tried to blackmail Kyouya, but the heartless bastard didn't have any skeletons he could find. So he'd asked for some more of that "expensive" help, all he'd wanted was to get something he could use. He'd just have to use the arrest in his favor.

So, the plan was simple. If he kept the raven in jail, his father would pay to keep him safe. If he could convince the old man that his heir was going to be killed if he didn't pay up, he'd get enough money to pay off the protection and the favors, but that bastard old man was just as heartless as his son and he didn't care that the boy would die. He was sure, too sure, that it was all a show and that the man would fold, but as everything started to come apart at the seams he could only berate himself for his stupidity.

He'd been unable to steal the money from the Ootori's and now the ax was swinging closer to his neck. He pulled out his cell phone and waited for the answer. "You should have just paid me." Then he closed the phone, opened it and pushed another few buttons. When the line answered he sighed. "Take care of it."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Despite the rain, the press was camped out in front of the courthouse waiting to the newly acquitted Ootori. Haruhi stopped and gave a small interview, stating that things like this happened and that Kyouya only hoped that the real murderer was brought to justice so the young woman's family could have some closure.

It was the type of sound byte that would make the evening news and could start the necessary public relations upheaval that he'd need to retake the president's seat. It was finally over. He'd be able to go back to a normal life and maybe he could keep Haruhi as part of it. He watched as four smartly dressed men walked to him and began to usher him toward the awaiting limousine. He recognized them as his family's secret police. He sneered at the thought, 'Good news travels fast.'

A rumble in the distance made them all thankful that the thunderstorm started later than had been anticipated. Kyouya made sure to grab Haruhi's wrist and pull her with him, but his grip went slack and before he felt the pain he heard the brunette scream. There was a white hot pain searing through his chest unlike anything he'd ever felt before.

Kyouya looked up from the ground, he didn't even know when he'd hit the floor, but he could see that Haruhi was covered in blood and she was yelling at him. He couldn't hear her, but he saw the tears rolling down her cheeks.

Everything went dark before he could even think clearly about the situation; before he could realize he'd been shot.

a.n..a.n..a.n..a.n..

I'm getting really close to the end. I had to do it. Akira means business. _ That's my mean face.


End file.
